One Week of Danger
by Cervella
Summary: "Okay, Miss Mystic," Lucy stood up and held the magazine which she would flush down the drain later above her head. Plue imitated her totally heroic pose and she was dead serious when she yelled,"In the next week I will prove that your horoscope is completely wrong!"
1. Sunday

**This is my first fanfic for my new obsession called...drums please... Fairy Tail! The series got me hooked from the start but I did never think of Natsu and Lucy as a couple. Actually, I thought that there was more chemisty between Lucy and Loke, but after reading tons of Nalu fanfiction...yeah my couple preference shifted completely :D But I don't think you are intrested in my talking so here you go.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hiro Mashima's great work. This applies to all the following chapters as well.**

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**One Week of Danger **

_It was a warm summer morning and the sun snuggled into the white clouds while the blue sky yawned above the mountain tops. The small river dashed down from them until it melted with the glittery ocean. Some birds began their cheerful songs and woke the city from its deep slumber. A girl stirred in her sleep when the spicy smell of fresh coffee tickled her nostrils; her blond hair was as messy as the blanket which lay crumbled beside her bed. Melanie yawned, squinted her eyes and scrambled to her feet in order to get some breakfast, but – _

"What a stupid introduction," Lucy Heartfilia grumbled to herself and scratched out the whole paragraph of her new novel. She rubbed her sore temples in order to soothe the growing symptoms of a headache. It felt like there was a mental war in her head between the words and their order. Finally, the third part of her mind – the lazy squad – joined the fight and told her to relax. Maybe morning just isn't her time to write and she was not in the mood anyway. Besides, maybe she shouldn't try to describe the opposite of the weather which was currently conquering Magnolia.

"Hm..." the blond woman lie on her wooden floor and popped her head up with one arm. Lazily, she sipped at her morning coffee – she would be nothing without it, before turning her attention to the next page of the Sorcerer Weekly.

It was quiet in her apartment since her friends weren't present. They just came back from a job yesterday and everybody was exhausted from two weeks of chasing a group of bandits. Even Natsu and his seemingly never ending source of energy was probably still in bed. Usually, they would already be there and trash her place. Gray would be stripping, Happy would eat all of her food, Erza would dive through her closet and Natsu would probably set things on fire while laughing like a maniac.

Lucy often wondered what she did to deserve this. The bad and the good things.

Sure, she hated how they invade her private space, but she loved them too much to be angry for long. She really did love Fairy Tail after all. Yes, they were crazy and she would definitely vote for them if there was a competition for the craziest guilt, but their flaws are what makes them more like a real family.

Something on the page of the magazine caught her attention. Plue stopped dancing and came over when she started to read out loud: "Your weekly horoscope, huh?"

_Find out what will happen to you in the next week based on your zodiac sign. It includes your job, friends, style and love life. From experience we know that Miss Mystic is always right with her predictions._

"...as if," the blond huffed, but her eyes kept shifting back to the article with interest. Lucy's eyes were stuck on the words 'love life' because Aquarius always teased her about not having a boyfriend. Maybe Aquarius would be nicer if Lucy would find one...probably not, she is quite beastly.

"Well let's see...cancer, cancer...cancer, here it is," Lucy exclaimed in joy when she found her own paragraph according to her birthday. She always wondered if one has something in common with one's zodiac sign, maybe personality wise? The image of the spirit with scissors popped into her head and she shivered. Should she start to end her sentences with 'shrimp'?

She shook her head to get rid of the ridiculous image which formed in her mind.

Actually, this stuff was considered a type of stellar magic, but Layla always taught Lucy that horoscopes had nothing to do with the pure magic of the stars. That's why she never got the concept of horoscopes and despised those people who pretended that they know something about celestial magic, when they clearly did not.

She knew that prediction has little to do with the zodiac. Cana, for example, uses card magic for this purpose. Lucy felt like those fortune-tellers degrade the spirits for their own deeds, mainly to trick people for money. The spirits are living beings and it still makes her mad how people think they could just think they are some shining stellar constellations which can be used for stupid horoscopes.

But she could not deny the curiosity that crept into her mind.

"Puuun~"the little spirit interrupted her thoughts when he pointed to the text that was the horoscope. Plue watched his friend with worry, when he saw how the blonde clutched the innocent paper in her hands.

Lucy signed, unlike Natsu she could not understand her spirit's language, but she knew that he tried to calm her down. She observed the offending magazine in her hands and a smirk grew on her face, "Why not have a sneak peek of my week? It's not like that could hurt."

The little doggy spirit looked at her with excitement and nodded his head. .

"Aww you can be so cute," she giggled to herself and turned to face her horoscope.

_Cancer the Crab: X791, September the 5th_

_Job:_

_Do your thing! Your unusual ideas can be the cornerstone for you success. But your annoying colleagues could get in the way. Later this week, Uranus and Neptune will cause breakdown and misunderstandings. You need to face the chaos._

"Basically, it says that my ideas are weird and that my team is annoying," she rolled her eyes and silently agreed with the annoying part. "Breakdown and misunderstandings, huh? Natsu and the others cause destruction all the time, that's why I am always late with my rent, duh. But what about the chaos?"

Lucy groaned at the image of more destruction. Why it is that herteam always had to wrack a whole city while on a job? It's like an unspoken law and they made sure it would never be broken. They may look innocent , but don't let your eyes betray you because they are wild lions who would lash out when you turn your back on them.

Okay, Happy is technically a cat and Natsu is more of a dragon but that's not the issue here. The pink-haired magician is the most destructive, most dense, most idiotic and the most kind person Lucy had ever met. He is her best friend, her nakama and he means the world to her. But recently Natsu and Lucy had some trouble with their relationship and she really started to be bothered by it. Lucy had a hunch that he was hiding something important from her and Natsu was not one to have many secrets. The fact that he won't tell her made her uneasy and a weird feeling bubbles in her stomach every time she catches that mysterious look of his.

Why is he always staring at her that way? She could not figure those emotions out, but she was determined to do for the sake of their relationship or whatever they called it.

"...now to the interesting stuff," the blond said while her eyes drifted to the romance part. She pushed her worry away for a while, Lucy was more of an optimistic person anyway. Maybe she will be lucky enough and meet the love of her life during the next week.

_Romance: _

_The cosmos ignites your love and interesting encounters wait for you. If the object of your affections neglects you, Mars tells you to make him jealous. _

_Venus it the cause of your flirty mood, but don't carry it too far. For you could break a heart. If you are able to pass the emotional roller coaster, you will float on cloud nine with your one true love! _

She will meet the love of her life, she knew it! Life is awesome. In your face Aquarius, she will get a boyfriend this week.

"Who will it be? What do you think, Plue?"

Before he could answer, the words soaked her mind and she started to guess what her love prediction could mean. Who will she encounter?

Her first thought was Natsu and it made her cheeks warm up. Very red... like a tomato. Ugh, she hated that specific warmth because it's so embarrassing.

Then, Lucy reread the text and she had to laugh because it reminded me of Mirajane's attempts to get Natsu and her together. She always tried to manipulate her into thinking that she likes him more than a friend. It almost worked the first time and Lucy was confused by the thought that he could love her. Her...

Lucy's stomach was filled with that warm and fuzzy feeling as if thousand little blue cats had a party in there.

Lucy even imagined him in her daydreams...how awkward can it possibly get?

She almost got a heart attack when he wanted to meet her in private. Then she got a heart attack because he just wanted to use Virgo to dig a hole next to a tree. What's wrong with him?

That's why Lucy gave up. Natsu plus romance equals a big permanent question mark in his mind.

"Puuunpu! Puuuu pun Pu?" Plue jumped very excited and she stared at him. Not for the first time, she wished that she could understand him.

"Can you show me what you mean?" The blonde questioned and the shivering Plue walked over to a brown box. He pointed at it and pulled at the sleeve of her red shirt. Curiously, she opened it only to find a sweet pink lollipop.

Lucy sweat dropped and with a small grunt she handled the sticky thread to him, resulting with drool on her beloved carpet. Great, who needs friends when you have your spirits destroying your apartment, too.

She looked at the love part for the millionth time this morning. She had to admit... it was intriguing.

"I will unintentionally break a heart?" She didn't like the ring that the second part had to it. Sounds a lot like trouble and knowing herself, there would be no happy ending and something with the floating-on-cloud-nine-thing will go wrong.

_Style: _

_Not too flashy, your good mood has enough force of attraction._

_Avoid the color red and do not match it up with pink._

"Too bad I'm wearing red right now," the blonde grinned and plucked at her ruby red top which complimented her womanly figure or so the male population of Magnolia thought.

_Lucky Day:_

_Sunday_

"That's pretty random..." Lucy examined. How did an author determine something like a that?

Then there is the question if the author had really used magic, it could be possible since this was a magazine for wizards. For all she knew, the author could just close her eyes and play eeny-meeny-miny-moe with some pseudo philosophical texts.

That's what Frank the weather forecaster man does all the time. No wonder he is so accurate (his chance is fifty-fifty, but he still manages to fail). Poor Frank, Lucy could swear that he is not that popular.

_Good luck__~ Miss Mystic aka. Anje Marie_

"Why thank you Miss Mystic," she grunted angrily. New anger about the horoscope mixed with the old about the disgrace to pure stellar magic.

"All in all my week consists out of breakdown, misunderstandings, chaos, heartbreak and potential love ...if I don't collapse before that happens and I am not allowed to wear pink and red! Who does the author think she is, deciding what's going to happen to me next week?"

Whoever this Miss Mystic is that person is going to get it. Who is she to say that her week will basically be miserable and that Lucy only got a slight glimpse of hope to find her one true love in the end. Besides she did not want to abstain from two of her favorite colors!

"Okay, Miss Mystic," Lucy stood up and held the magazine which she would flush down the drain later above her head. Plue imitated her totally heroic pose and she was dead serious when she yelled, "In the next week I will prove that your horoscope is completely wrong!"

"Oi, Luce! Why are ya screaming like that?"

Her head whipped around and brown met onyx. There, in her comfortable bed sat a tired dragon slayer and his blue companion. He looked like he had been awoken from deep slumber and his pink bangs were out of order. How could she not notice him sleeping in her bed?

"Natsu, how long have you been here?" Lucy tried to ask with a calm voice. Quite unfortunate for the boy to meet her at this state of mind and he heard the dangerous undertone in her voice.

Slightly shivering from memories of Lucy's kicks he replied, "Since yesterday? C-come on don't gimme that look, I thought you noticed...Luce?...W-what's with the ba-AHH!"

Happy swallowed when the bat collided with Natsu's head.

"Aye, Lucy is mean!"

"Who gave you the permission to break into my house?" He should have known better than to mess with her in the morning. "Secondly, you can't just sneak into any woman's bed!"

"But you are not just any woman, you are my Luce," he grinned brightly like it was the most natural thing in the world to say that. His cheeks were covered by a red hue, but it went unnoticed by his blond friend.

Her heart stopped at that moment and she felt like melting to a small insignificant puddle of adoration. A small blush covered her cheeks when she returned the smile and the hand with the bat sank to the ground. At least he is still the same...

"Are you listening to me?" Natsu crocked his head to one side and poked her red cheeks, "I said that you snore."

One of her eyebrows started to twitch dangerously and her face was even redder than before. Her eyes were wide when she started to yell at the dragon slayer, "You snore, I do not!"

"Whoa, she's gone wild!"

"Lucy is scary," the exceed chimed in, earning a glare from said girl.

"Let's eat!" The childish dragon slayer yelled, ignoring her fit and started his way to claim her fridge. Lucy desperately tried to hold them back, but slipped on Plue's drool from earlier. The spirit rescued himself before his master squished him to death, but his pink lollipop stayed behind.

Dizzily, the girl scrambled to her feet. She tried to fix her messed up hair by looking into her new mirror. That's when she noticed the pink lollipop on her red shirt.

_Avoid the color red and do not match it up with pink._

Lucy was so focused on her reflection that she did not even notice the loud crashing sounds which came from her kitchen.

"This is just a coincidence," she laughed nervously while prying the sticky thread from her shirt. "Just my imagination."

**To Be Continued**

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**Way to ruin the moment Natsu you idiot xD So was it horrible? cute? interesting? All in all: Gimme a piece of your mind or I will have Erza chop it out of your head :P Thanks for reading and don't forget to write something in the box below.**


	2. Monday

**Wow, thanks to** TheOneMagic, 5,SincerelyTruly, FireDragonPrincess, GoldenRoseTanya, dang regacho, pinksnail, CupCakeGirl633, Chrys Stone, alinekiryuu, Kai Ru Kaerisato, Meow 3 (two times) and Puma** for reviewing. You were right: Anje Marie equals Mirajane ;) It's not a big secret and I thought you would figure it out rather easily. Well, also I wanted to warn you that I am what one call a 'slow updater' so don't be surprised when I drop off for some time : I apologize now :) I hope this lives up to your expectations!**

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**Monday**

Actually, the first day of the week started pretty normal or that's what Lucy thought. The depressing weather disappeared almost instantly and now the sun tried to roast the people on the streets. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky and it seemed like someone painted it in a steely blue, wiping all the other colors out.

Our favorite blonde wizard was currently on her way to their next job request – yes a new job request with her team because she needed the money. What can you do if your landlady is a money-loving hag? She was really glad that her team still joined her, even though they just completed a mission the day before...surprisingly with reward and all.

Natsu groaned. His head leaned on one of the windows and the wind of the moving train ruffled his already messy hair, but it did not soothe his motion sickness. His cheeks looked like big green balloons and some drool dripped from his mouth onto the floor, forming a small puddle to their feet. Lucy would have felt pity for him, if the dragon slayer wouldn't have barged into her house and eaten all of her food again. Hasn't anybody told him that when you eat before you ride a train the motion sickness gets worse? Deciding that this was Natsu and he wouldn't care anyway, she didn't bother to tell him...

"That's just gross, Ash Tray," Gray shivered when he lifted his food out of the drool puddle. He shook it, but somehow the drool wouldn't come off. He touched the glibber and wiped it on Natsu's shirt with disgust. "Look what you did to my new shoes, bastard!"

Natsu tried to protest, but was only able to lift one finger before it fell limply on his lap. Lucy giggled because she was always amazed how the all-too-powerful dragon slayer was defeated by simple means of transportation. He wasn't even able to talk back to Gray anymore.

Somewhere in his world of motion sickness, Natsu had a great idea how to annoy Gray. Gathering all his strength, he let himself fall to the side so that he landed on the Ice Cream's lap. Mission accomplished!

"What the heck?" Gray got really angry and tried to lift Natsu, not so gently, from his lap to save his new jeans. "This is so gay, man."

"Gray stop that action right now! You can't pick on the defenseless, I cannot believe your cruelty. Did I not tell you to stop fighting?" The intimidating voice of Erza rang through their compartment as clear as if she spoke through a megaphone. The ice-make wizard flinched and suddenly slung his arm around the dragon slayer's shoulder.

"We weren't fighting, Erza, that was just your imagination. We are best friends, right Natsu?"

Unfortunately for Gray, his 'best friend' saw this as an awesome opportunity to puke onto his rival for revenge...and so he did.

"Bastard, are you serious?"Gray yelled, grabbed Natsu's neck and started to choke him – really the boy was a pain in the ass. "Did you have to do that? Yeesh!"

"At least he has a reason to take of his clothes now..."Happy giggled behind his blue paws and then he received a bitter glare. He crawled over to Lucy with tears in his eyes, "Lucy, he wants to eat me!"

"That's it! I've had enough of you two," Erza was surrounded by darkness... scaring-the-shit-out-of-you darkness. "Lucy!"

"Ehh?" Said woman turned to her seat neighbor, wondering why the harsh voice was directed at her. It was not like she got into a fight or something. Happy, being a very loyal creature and everything, flew as fast away from Lucy as he could so that he would be spared. One of them had to take care of her fish after all.

"You will swap places with Gray."

Gray knew how he should feel about the situation...for one he was relieved to be out of Natsu's puke range, but on the other hand he made two really scary woman angry with him. Why did they have to be such devils, it's like they are on constant period. Not that he would voice such thoughts aloud, he valued his life too much for that.

"B-but I didn't do anything," the blonde gulped when the atmosphere around her friend got darker.

"..."

"Okay," Lucy groaned and did as she was told without another question. Somehow the taunting words from the horoscope registered in her mind and disturbed her angry thoughts towards a certain black haired man.

_But your annoying colleagues could get in the way._

Psch! So what one thing that Miss Mystic said was right...whatever it's not like the rest will be. Besides she already knew that her team could be annoying sometimes, but she wasn't really bothered by it anymore. Well, most of the time.

Lucy signed and took the seat next to her best friend, who immediately noticed that it was no longer Gray sitting next to him and engulfed her in a desperate hug for comfort. A small smile made its way to her lips as she watched him taking deep breaths to steady himself. Natsu's hot breath blew against the skin on her neck, making her skin tingle and a familiar warmth rise to her cheeks when he snuggled closer to her. Her heart started to pound in her chest – no he was not cute at all!

...Okay, he was.

The blonde started to stoke his hair softly and after a while he fell asleep. Lucy just stared at his sleeping face which looked oddly sincere and wondered how such a destructive person could look so innocent.

"Erza, Gray! Lucy is a pervert because she is staring at Natsu with that creepy face," the exceed whined and flew in circuits above their heads.

"Shut up, stupid cat!" she hissed through gritted teeth, but was unable to move since she was captured in Natsu's iron grip. Considering that he was somewhere in dreamland, it was amazing that his hug was still unbreakable...or it was to Lucy because no matter how hard she tried, every move just made him hold her tighter than before.

Happy grinned mischievously.

The blonde decided to punish him later so instead she turned her attention to her scarlet haired friend, "Where are we heading exactly?"

"Oh, our duty lies in Hosenka Town."

"Isn't that the spa place?" Gray raised an eyebrow at his conscious companions.

Erza nodded her head. "Yes it is, but we are not there to relax this time. Our client is worried about an attack from a dark guilt who want to to ruin the annual festival held there. We have to be on our highest guard. Mira told me that the client would likely reveal more information about our job when we arrive there."

"So Mira gave you the job request?"Lucy asked suspiciously, somehow she always had a bad feeling when Mira asked them to go on specific jobs. When the take-over wizard asks for something it's either a) highly embarrassing for the blonde, b) some matchmaking plan or c) a really, really dangerous job request.

"Yes she did. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, not at all," the blonde flinched and faked a smile when she felt eyes piercing through her. Still wondering about the weird job request, the most important topic came to her mind. Rent money! "So, how much is the reward?"

"Hmm, let me look," Titania mumbled and searched through her mountain of luggage for that small piece of paper. "It says the pay is 7.000.000 Jewel."

Lucy's jaw dropped to the ground and Happy's jaw joined hers. The blue cat was already somewhere in his dreamland full of fish and more fish.

"Wow that's a lot of money for one dark guild and a security job," Gray frowned and rested his head on one arm. "Something is seriously off about this request."

"That's probably why Mira asked us to go on this mission," Erza concluded. "I hope that we get more information from the client, but don't forget he is the mayor of the city and owns a lot of money. I wouldn't be surprised if he would offer such prizes, but I still get a bad feeling from this."

Contemplating silence.

"...Who cares! Seriously? It's 7.000.000 Jewel, that's my rent for who knows how long!" Lucy laughed giddily at the prospect of not having to pay her rent for a long time. If only her team could not destroy half the city again. "Just please, could you try not to destroy Hosenka? It's my favorite spa and rebuilding it would force us to leave our reward."

"We will try our best Lucy and we will not disappoint you, right Gray?"

"Hmm, sure," he still looked deep in thought, but looked up and smiled reassuringly at her.

She knew something was wrong with this mission. She had the same feeling that Erza and Gray probably got, but she did not feel like worrying right now. Instead she enjoyed the warmth that radiated from the dragon slayer and fell into a light comfortable sleep.

**XOXOXOX**

If the weather was a guy, she would kick him between the legs for what she was going through right now. It was raining again – no it was like someone got ten million buckets and tried to empty them over the walking wizards. Lucy would use Horologium to hide, but his time ran out. So there she was, trying to shield herself from mother natures wrath; her clothes clinging to her like a second skin. She tried to soothe her violent shivering by rubbing her arms, but the warmth went away and she felt colder than before.

And not for the first time she felt jealous of her teammates; Erza re-quipped into a raincoat, Gray didn't mind the cold, Natsu was his own heater and Happy enjoyed cuddling into his scarf.

Then onyx eyes diverted to her shivering figure.

"Hey Lucyyy, are you cold again?"

No, duh. Her teeth just enjoyed to chatter...or that's what she would have replied if her teeth weren't chattering.

"Why are you always freezing? Jeez, you need some awesome fire powers like me!"He grinned happily at the very unhappy blonde.

"No way, ice magic is way better. It makes you resistant against any weather,"Gray dropped into their one-sided conversation as if to rile up the dragon slayer on purpose. He stepped closer to Lucy and draped an arm over her shoulders. "So what do you say? Wanna learn some ice-make magic with me?"

Suddenly the rain intensified for no apparent reason...or so they thought.

"YoGray, your magic sucks!"

"Take that back, Flame Moron!"

"What if I don't, Snowman?"

"You pickin' a fight, Pinky?"

"Fire rules!"

"Ice is better!"

They threw punches at each other and Lucy glanced nervously at Erza, who seemed to take interest in the surrounding nature, for help. Meanwhile, the blonde felt colder than ever before and let out a sneeze which interrupted the two fighting rivals and they turned to their almost forgotten friend.

"Lucy, tell him I'm right! No, I am right...Stop! Hey, stop copying me!"

"Do I hear you fighting?" Due to Erza's intimidating presence they stopped their fight and went all buddy-buddy. "Besides, re-quip magic is the best, right Lucy? I could teach you some great things that will improve your skills."

"I just want warmth, idiots!" Lucy panted heavily after her outburst and her friends stared at her.

Natsu signed and walked in front of the pretty blonde. Lucy noted that he was embarrassed about something because he avoided her curious gaze. Why would he be flustered about something? He was not seriously concerned because she blew up at them, right? She does that all the time...or was it because she did not say that his magic was better?

"So that's all?" His nochalant question startled her and his face was just inches from hers, his hot breath fanning across her face. There was this look again, the one she could not place; the one that made her think something was off about him.

She nodded.

"Okay then."He ran a hand through his salmon hair, drying some lost raindrops away. "Hop on!"

She gagged at him. "What?"

"Are you deaf? Hop on!" Natsu removed his jacket and gestured to his back. "I always thought you were the smart one, Luce. You're getting weirder every day."

Grumbling, she climbed onto his back and hocked her legs around his waist. Her face flushed pink when she laced her arms around his neck tightly; her cheek was next to his.

He laughed when he heard her mutter silent curses and bent down to retrieve his jacket. Lucy watched when he draped the cloth over both of them, his arms slipping into the sleeves before he pulled the zipper up. The stellar mage could not help but notice their close proximity from which she could not escape. It was worse than on the train because this time there was barely any space between his muscular back and her body.

It was like a sandwich: jacket – Lucy – Natsu – jacket and with Happy on top.

"Alright, let's go!" She could feel the excited grin spread onto his face by the way his warm cheek pressed against hers. Her heart felt like leaping out of her chest when his hands gripped her tights and he started walking.

"I accept your challenge, may the better team win!" The scarlet haired mage smiled at them with a hint of seriousness in her voice. The sandwich just looked startled at their friend. So did Gray. "Gray, hop on my back."

"Eh? Me?"The shocked ice alchemist pointed with a finger to himself. "You can't be serious..."

"..."

"Ow – okay, stop! I'll climb on by myself," he grumbled from his position on her back. Not only was he the one getting a piggibag ride, he was getting carried by a girl...and a scary one at that.

"Happy look, now he's really an ice princess," Natsu sniggered evilly.

"Aye, sir. Luce, can we borrow a dress from you?"

"Definitely not."

After a good hour ride on Natsu's back, other parts of her body were coming back to life after being almost frozen to death.

"Natsu?" She whispered tiredly into his neck while inhaling the scent from his scarf.

"Huh?"

"Maybe fire magic is a little bit cooler." Lucy could not see the radiant smile that spread across his face, but heard an irritated shout from the ice wizard. Then she decided to add very quietly:"Thanks for keeping me warm."

"No problem." And for a second she swore that his grip on her legs tightened.

While she was in that sleepy state she thought about what started to bug her all day. According to that horoscope she was supposed to meet her soon-to-be boyfriend this week, but the only thing that came close to a romantic encounter was her dense best friend being himself...

_If you are able to pass the emotional roller coaster, you will float on cloud nine with your one true love!_

Please, let him be hot. Maybe he is a powerful wizard, he could be rich or even a famous actor. What would she do if she already knows him? That would definitely make things easier when it comes to breaking the ice. She would just keep her eyes open and perhaps she will find her one true love along the mission...not that she would believe the stupid horoscope. After all she wanted to prove that it's wrong, not the opposite, right?

"Lucy, what are you thinking about?"

She yelped in fright when she found something blue that reeked of fish very, very close to her face. Happy. She forgot that he slept in Natsu's scarf earlier.

She shrugged. "It's n-nothing."

"But your face was all scrunched up like an old geezer!"The exceed snickered and hid in the white scarf which surrounded both of them. Lucy tried to grab him, but he was skilled in escaping her violent moments so she failed to smack him.

"Come back here stupid cat,"she screamed while the rest of her team laughed. She lifted her hands from his neck, balled them into fists and tried to reach the cat for the third time that day.

"Natsuuuuu, why are you carrying Lucy?" The cat teased again, flying above them.

He looked to the side. "I owe her for the train ride..."

She wasn't supposed to feel disappointed by his answer. But somehow her spirits sunk after hearing that he just felt guilty for her help on the train and did this as a repayment for the favor. Lucy couldn't believe her idiocy for believing that he might have some interest...

"Everybody, look! There it is, Hosenka Town," she pointed ahead of them, trying to forget her mood for a moment and just enjoy the time with her friends. "I mean, we can still use the hot springs, can't we?"

Gray, Natsu and Happy paled visibly – did she say something wrong?

"Of course, we can," Erza grinned with sparkles in her eyes. Everybody signed in relieve and cheered. " Ehh – I mean, it's not to show you my new bikini, Lucy. We need to survey the whole area, including the bathing areas."

"Sure," Lucy sweat dropped.

**XOXOXOX**

The city Hosenka was famous for it's oriental styled buildings, just as it was for similar themed food and entertainment. It was actually one of Fiore's oldest cities, but the ancient cultural heritage was long gone since the rich son of the Pandera family decided to built the resort on the same place. Still, some places were the same, just renovated and changed for the likes of tourism.

Small light lacrimas hovered in the air and their rainbow glow drew patterns on the lively streets. Happy bumped into one of them and it burst into little sparkles which rained down on their little group. After that the exceed busied himself with destroying some of them. Even Lucy though it was cute until some people who were preparing for the festival got angry.

The spicy smell of cinnamon hung in the air and mingled with steamy aroma of bathing minerals.

"Ugh, why do they have to use such strong stuff, my nose is burning!" The dragon slayer sneezed and it resulted in a little explosion with fire and all.

"Natsu, we made a promise to Lucy, remember? You can't just blow up the street with your nose-" Titania hit him on his head and he clutched his head afterward. "Let's just find a shelter for tonight, we shall meet our client tomorrow."

Before Natsu could protest, Gray froze his nose in an attempt to protect it from the spicy smell. The salmon haired mage wasn't amused, but didn't comment when he felt Lucy's hazel eyes pierce through him. Instead he gaped like a fish to get oxygen. Several passerby shot him a look of pity and the celestial wizard would love for Virgo to dig her a hole and hide from embarrassment.

They arrived at a average looking hotel called Cosmos Inn; not too fancy but it wasn't shabby either. Wait, something was familiar with that name...wasn't it that horoscope again?

_The cosmos ignites your love..._

"Hahaha, I think I'm getting paranoid." She shook her head and laughed openly. Her friends started at her worriedly, but she didn't want to explain so she just waved them off.

"Let's just get a room already," the dark-haired wizard said and draped an arm over Lucy's shoulders. To her mind that somehow came out wrong, the face that Gray had unconsciously stripped off his clothes didn't help much.

"Eep!"She shrieked and put some distance between them. "Gray, your clothes. We are in public."

He looked down in shock to see his boxers with a heart-shaped ice pattern.

"Damn, when did that happen?"

"Put your pants on," Erza demanded before she rammed her elbow in his face. Poor Gray, he just had bad luck with woman.

Natsu would have laughed, but he and Happy were at the food shop for a snack.

Lucy who felt pity for her friend, started to lift him from the ground gently and dragged him to the reception. The young secretary at the counter smiled at her politely when she looked up from her computer lacrima.

"A room for two, is it?" The woman winked at Lucy whose cheeks were beet red. "We have discount of 35 percent for such lovely couples as yourselves, the room is quite luxurious if I do say so myself."

The blonde stuttered, unable to form the right words to deny the accusation of her and Gray.

"Are you not together?"

"Of course, we are. I am her boyfriend, she just isn't used to it yet...I just confessed yesterday, you know?" Gray threw a charming smile at the now giggling secretary. Meanwhile, he stepped on Lucy's food, to prevent her from saying something. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't. Gray's words made her speechless.

Somewhere in the background the rain started to pour down and a stone pillar crumbled to dust.

"Well then, you have free access to..." And so the woman started to talk about their resort.

Lucy glared at her 'boyfriend'. "What is the meaning of this?"she hissed, her voice laced with venom and anger.

"Hey, don't get angry. We get a discount plus I don't wanna be in a room with the idiot or the scary woman. So please Lucy, just play along for the moment, okay?"

"Fine," she whispered a bit calmer now.

"...and that will be 10.000 Jewel for the time of your stay." The ignored secretary smiled and Gray handled her the money. "Oh, are those two friends of yours?"

She gestured to the dumbfounded Erza joined by Natsu and Happy who just came back a couple of minutes ago. Erza raised an eyebrow while the dragon slayer seemed...displeased. Maybe he ate something wrong, wouldn't be the first time.

"Y-yeah, they are o-our friends," Lucy stammered. She did not feel comfortable with the way Natsu was staring at her, an emotion she could not identify dominated his eyes aside from anger. His skin color looked drained of life when Happy chirped his famous lines.

"They llllllike each other!"

Lucy looked at Gray who was perfectly at ease with an arm draped over her shoulder and she couldn't help but sign at his calm persona. We he felt her look he grinned down at her and flicked her nose.

A low growl emitted from beside them and they felt the scorching heat before they saw him light his fists.

"Oi, Ice Cream! I still have to get you back for the ice you shoved in my face!"

"Oh yeah? But you didn't complain about it before."

"But I do no-OW Erza!"

"We would like to have a room, too." The scarlet haired woman leaned onto the counter casually, ignoring the tense atmosphere around her. She gave her the right amount of money for another 'couple room' and dragged a protesting fire wizard along.

"Of course, you are a couple too right? That's so great, a double date vacation. I wish my boyfriend would do something like that," the secretary said dreamily typed something into her computer lacrima before turning her attention back to them. "Here are your keys, enjoy your stay at the Cosmos Inn!"

**To Be Continued**

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**Jealousy is in the air :) Hope you are still interested in the story, so leave a comment in the lovely box below. (Happy: Aye and can you leave some fish, too? :D)**


	3. Tuesday

**Hey guys :) Sorry for the terribly late update, but school is an evil monster that swallows my time. I'm really happy that it's my last year. Thanks to **Guest, LuckyLifeSmile, Mrs. HopeEstheim, sekushi na sakura subarashi, Urusaii, xXxSnowyDreamxXx, FireKing, PARADISE.x, Joker07, fighter61998,the-clumsy-one, GoldenRoseTanya, FireDragonPrincess, Deekie, Tai Ru Kaerisato, Chrys Stone, Wasabi-kun, Mana, KaUiA and bluefire321 **for reviewing :D You can hit me if I forgot anyone! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as the other two. Hahaha I also want to advertise for my Nalu and Sticy Oneshots. Check them out if you have time :) **(*cough* sorry I edited again *cough*)

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**Tuesday**

Yawning widely, she stretched her exhausted muscles and shifted in her bed, pulling the soft cushion over her head. A bad fore boarding feeling told her that it was better not to open her eyes and just stay in bed. Still in the state between being awake and dreaming, Lucy was barely aware of her surroundings and didn't notice the soft knocking on the door. She opened her eyes slowly and regretted that immediately because the sun glared in her face. Then there was a knock on her door followed by a tired grown from her teammate.

"Gray?" Lucy mumbled tiredly and couldn't suppress a tiny chuckle when she saw his sleeping position. He was half on the bed and half on the ground and his hair looked like some animal died there.

"Hm?" Came the quiet reply. "What?"

"You open the door," she signed and turned away from him. "I'm too sleepy."

Someone knocked at the door again...this time more aggressively. Apparently Gray went back to sleep again so he didn't hear her. Whoever was outside decided that they waited long enough and with a loud burst the door was out of its frame.

"Stand up! It's time to meet the client."

"Oi, be quiet." Gray dared to groan and clutched his head. "Some people have a hangover..."

Erza's, Happy's and Natsu's jaw dropped to the ground simultaneously when they saw the mess that unfolded itself in front of them.

"What did you two do?" She yelled on top of her lungs and the two sleepy magicians sat up from their positions as if lighting struck them. At first Lucy didn't really get what her friend was referring to...until the last bit of her sleepiness wore off.

Spears of ice were stuck in the walls, a cushion was frozen as well, half of the room was still underwater, the window was shattered, one corner of the room was filled with some soft-pink-cotton-stuff, the bead sheets were ripped apart, a defect lamp hung limply from the ceiling, clouds of dust polluted the air and coated what was left of the furniture.

Not only was the freaking room torn into pieces, Gray and Lucy looked as if they'd been on a battlefield as well.

"Look we can explain," the ice alchemist stammered while sweat was forming on his forehead. "Right, Lucy?"

"Looks like you had a fight," Natsu grumbled annoyed and glared at Gray. Then he pouted like a little kid. "You should have invited me, Lucy, I'm your partner after all!"

"We d-didn't have a fight," she tried to explain but the anxiety got the better of her. At that moment she felt a very intense stare bore into her head and she looked up into insanely angry onyx eyes. She gulped and her mouth went dry. Since when does Natsu look so scary?

"Did you do something indecent to her, Gray? I want an explanation!" Erza used her most frightening stare to intimidate them. "Now!"

"Uh...well," Lucy tried to find words to describe their helpless situation, but before she could utter another word her black haired friend clamped a hand over her mouth.

"There were tons of...gigantic fish monsters who tried to attack us, but we were able to defeat them before any harm could be done to other hotel guests. You should thank us," Gray said confidently as if he really believed his own lie and Lucy regretted to let him talk.

"Aw, why didn't you save some fish for me?" Happy pouted. "Lucy, you are so mean!"

"And how is that my fault!" the blond managed to yell through the hand on her mouth.

"Alright then, where are these fish monsters now?" Erza raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Um...we disposed of them...they are...we donated them to some...people who were hungry?" She had never been a good liar and would probably never be. So she decided to tell them the truth about what happened in the room. After all, she didn't want to start any rumors or her being in bed with Gray.

It all started the evening before, when a certain fire magician suggested that they should go and have some fun. What seemed like a nice plan ended in one of the local bars and a lot of alcohol. She remembered faintly how Natsu carried her back to the hotel and they all went to their respective rooms.

Doesn't sound too bad, but the problem was something different. Lucy had never been much of a drinker because it heightens her feelings immensely. Out of simple friendship could turn love, out of discomfort could turn despair and out of fright could turn panic. The latter had been triggered by her most feared monster – a spider which was as big as a plate.

From the moment she spotted the monster it turned into an all-out war between the insect and the two magicians.

"A spider...really, Lucy? You're afraid of spiders?" Natsu teased and raised an eyebrow. "You could have just called me and I'd have burned it."

"That's not the point," she panicked and looked around hectically. Damn, how could they do something like this to an innocent hotel room. She wasn't even the destructive type – this mission was definitely not starting well. "What do we do? Where do we sleep now?"

"You can sleep in our room," he crossed his arms over his chest, red covering his cheeks and avoided her curious glance. He couldn't be more thankful to the little spider to appear in their room so that he could get Lucy out of there."I'd rather have you away from the Ice Brain anyway."

"Oi!"

"Really? We can take your room?" Lucy grinned happily and looked at Erza for confirmation. Good thing the re-quip wizard already burned all her rage off by lecturing Gray, so she was in a better mood and agreed.

Seriously, Lucy wasn't even counting Miss Mystics line of the horoscope concerning her troublesome colleges as something wrong from the start. It was simply a fact. They'd always cause trouble, but now she realized that she wasn't any better.

**XOXOXOX**

After a belated breakfast they headed out of the Cosmos Inn in order to find their client. Today the rainy clouds calmed down, but the humid temperatures caused mysterious fog to appear which Natsu did not trust. His mood wasn't anywhere close to his usual cheerfulness because he was bothered by something again.

Earlier, Lucy snapped at Gray for invading her personal bubble by rolling half-naked to her side of the bed and snoring into her ear most of the night. Gray tried to defend himself against the violent blond by stating that he couldn't control his body when he sleeps.

Lucy was satisfied with the explanation, but Natsu strangely wasn't. Not at all. He was irritated by the new found closeness of his – emphasis on his – partner and Gray. For some unknown reason it made him so angry that he started to chew on his lips and repeatedly ground his teeth together.

"Are we there yet?" Natsu whined annoyed and slumped his shoulders like a little kid who didn't get his favorite candy.

He balled his hands into fists when she didn't answer him. Oh yeah...she answered Gray but not him. She got a room with Gray but not him. She looked at Gray but not him. It's okay when Gray started a fight but not him. Always not him.

He signed. The lack of action didn't become him well. If the pink-haired magician lacked action, he started to think and that was clearly a negative thing. That's why Igneel taught him a simple technique to get his thoughts in order.

Gray had droopy eyes. Only jerks have droopy eyes, meaning Gray was a jerk.

This would mean that he didn't like Gray at the moment – then again he almost never did – and this method worked well when he wanted to sort out his simple emotions. It worked on food, too. Fire chicken smells good. What smells good tastes good. Thus fire chicken tastes good. As easy as breathing, right?

Unfortunately, it doesn't work on celestial magicians or it's just Lucy who is weird. She was so weird that his mind boycotted any rational thought that could explain her. For example... Lucy smells really good. What smells good tastes good. Thus meaning Lucy tastes good?

Maybe he should try it one day, but she would probably hit him. That reminded him... "I'm hungry...like without food for a week hungry!"

"You just ate six roasted chicken for breakfast," Lucy yelled exasperated and pulled at his ear to teach him manners.

"So what? That's two less than normal," he raised and eyebrow as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're weird, Luce."

"Aye, sir!" Happy sat down on his shoulder and showed his tongue to the angered girl.

"Shut your trap, cat. You almost ate as many fish," Lucy grumbled almost inaudibly. "If you both continue to suck food in like black holes, there won't be any money left to pay my rent...and you're calling me weird."

"Aye!"

"Of all times, you agree with me now..." She rolled her eyes and turned towards their destination.

**XOXOXOX**

Their little group stood in front of a large mansion that cast a shadow over all the buildings that were next to it. It looked intimidating to say the least and clearly showed the extravagant orient style like the rest of the city. A bunch of gold statues framed the narrow stone path which lead to the grand wooden doors.

"Show offs," Gray commented dryly when they approached the door. "At least we know why they pay so many jewel for a simple security job."

"Whoa! The house is fat!" Natsu's eyes were about to fall out of their holes. Two servants opened the gate and lead them to their client. Erza – who was silently enduring her companions antics – reminded them to look professional in front of their client. Meaning: no fire, ice, fighting, spirits popping out, blunt comments or begging for fish.

Lucy was excited to meet their client because the only thing she liked in the stupid horoscope was the possibility that she'd find her true love. She was supposed to have interesting encounters, so maybe their client was her new love?...or not.

"Whoa, he is fat too," the pink-haired idiot exclaimed, unaware that he already broke one of Erza's rules of behavior. She glared at him to make it clear that he wasn't supposed to do the talking and he shut up. Still, even Lucy was a bit astounded by the volume of the man in front of them with proportions like an elephant . Her lovely dream of her new love burst into thousand pieces...he resembled Duke Everloo. Wrong again, Miss Mystic.

"Pleased to meet you, Fairy Tail, I'm glad that you could make it in time," their client greeted them with an authoritative and deep voice while his gray mustache kept moving up and down. "I'm Duke Pandera and since a decade I rule over the finances of Hosenka Town. You probably know from the job description that a dark guild threatens to attack the citizens and some very important business relations of mine at the festival. Your priority will be to guard those important people and to destroy the dark guild."

"Could you tell us more about the dark guild?" Titania asked curiously.

"Certainly..." Duke Pandera rested his head on his hands and some sorrow lines redefined his face. "Their name is Chaos Hunter and they formed about a year ago. I don't know about their leader but they seem to prefer wearing black robes. Nobody has ever seen their faces because they always disappear very fast. Their headquarter is must be somewhere close to the city...but that are just rumors. I'm sorry but that's all I know so far."

"Thank you that helps us a lot," the celestial magician smiled at their client before coming to the question that burned on her tongue since she heard about the mission. "Why do you offer such a high sum for this job? I mean not that I complain about 7.000.000 Jewel but..."

"Aye, that's a lot of money. Also why do you think they will attack at the festival?" Happy asked from Natsu's shoulder.

Duke Pandera signed and adjusted his red tie nervously before answering the questions. "At first, Chaos Hunter only targeted families of lower rank with less money, but a few weeks ago on another festival even my daughter Urania and my son Nathan were kidnapped by them. I don't know if they're alive or not, but if you can destroy this guild I will certainly know. Please help me, Fairy Tail."

"Of course we'll help you, that's why were here," Lucy replied reassuringly and showed him a thumbs up. Lucy felt a shiver run down her spine when he mentioned the guilds name...but for a very different reason. Internally, she was having an hysterical fit. Her companions noticed her weird behavior, but didn't comment on it.

_Later this week, Uranus and Neptune will cause breakdown and you'll need to face the chaos._

Miss Mystic couldn't have possibly predicted that, too. Chaos Hunter, Urania and Nathan are totally different names...there couldn't be a connection or it would really start to get creepy.

**XOXOX**

Until now their little trip had been anything but relaxing even though they were in a town that was build just for that purpose. She envied the people who only came here to enjoy the festival and were able to soak their sore muscles in the warm herbal springs. Maybe they'd get the chance to enjoy the party, if they could find the dark guild soon enough. Lucy signed and took a sip from her strawberry milkshake while looking at the thoughtful faces of her friends.

In the beginning she thought that the rapid weather changes came from being unlucky. Instead she spotted Juvia in a nearby bush who was observing them or rather her beloved Gray-sama. She wondered why the water wizard didn't just ask them to bring her along. It would be easier for both of them.

"Any ideas of how to find Chaos Hunter?" The ice alchemist threw the question at the group minus Natsu. They were in the middle of a strategy meeting in a small local cafe at the center of Hosenka Town. "Or how we should work on this job?"

The four of them were pretending they didn't know Natsu who already ran around shouting that 'Chaos Hunter' shouldn't be such cowards and come to fight him. For him it was the obvious way to approach a problem – take it head on.

"I think we should definitely make sure the people at the festival are safe, so we can't leave all at the same time," Erza exclaimed seriously and everybody nodded. "Moreover, I want to find out more information about this guilt before engaging in a battle with them."

"I can do that!" Happy pointed to himself proudly. "I can fly around town and ask if anybody has heard something."

"Great idea! We're counting on you," she replied cheerfully and the exceed was glad to be helpful. "Maybe we should form groups...one group to detect Chaos Hunter and the other to protect the city. It would be the most reasonable choice."

"I'll go with the detecting group because I might have an idea where they could hide," Lucy mumbled to herself and caught everybody's curiosity. She felt as if she was forgetting something about this city, but maybe a trip to the library could freshen her memory up. "In order to disappear quickly in a mass of people without getting noticed you need either extremely good knowledge of the area or you need a trick. Moreover, their hide out wasn't supposed to be far away. I need to go to the library to check it out, I can tell you tomorrow what I found out, okay?"

"Cool, but you can't detect them alone," Gray stated although his voice was muffled by the shirt he was about to pull over his head. "I'll help you out with the fighting. It's more exciting than protecting people anyway."

Somehow a little rain cloud started to form above Lucy's head, but she managed to avoid it by running in circles. She tried to tell Juvia with her eyes to stop, but said girl just yelled something that sounded like 'love rival'.

"Great, Lucy! That saves us a lot of time." Nodding in approval, Erza pressed the blonde to her metal chest and Lucy's face paled from the pain. "I'll be in the protecting team because I don't really trust Natsu and Gray together with the city and since this morning I'm starting to worry about you, too. Now that that's settled, any objections?"

Lucy looked for Natsu and found him staring angrily at them. His fists were clenched and his jaw was set. He looked positively dangerous, like a volcano close to an eruption and she had never seen him like that before. She could practically feel the air around them spike a few degree when his glare shifted to her.

"Did I do something to you?" He asked in a low voice that made goosebumps form on her skin. Damn, this was not the moment to feel attracted to him. Can you even feel frightened and attracted at the same time?

"What are you talking about, Natsu?" She gulped and tried to avoid his intense gaze. Erza, Happy and Gray were dead silent.

"We are a team, Luce," he was voice was close to a growl and his irritation from the whole day resurfaced. "And yet you go with him all the time."

Lucy gaped openly. "Are you saying I can't go with Gray? Is that what's bothering you?"

"No, it bothers me because you can't protect yourself and Ice Brain over there isn't enough to get the job done," Natsu yelled angrily and a few passerby stared at them weirdly. "I don't want you to go and that's final."

"Oi, Natsu don't say stuff you'll regret – "Gray tried to pacify him by putting an arm on his shoulder, but Natsu shrugged it off.

"Shut up, Gray! If you want to go so badly...them go with him!"

"You can't tell me what I can do and what I can't," she screamed back with tears forming in her eyes. She didn't even knew why he was going berserk. "You think I'm weak, huh? Figures. I know I'm not the strongest but you don't have to rub it in."

"L- Lucy ...I..."

"No! Just leave me alone."

Then she ran away. Anywhere was better than staying with the fire breathing idiot. How could he say something like that? Since yesterday, he had been acting weird.

She hated to fight with him and it always made her feel like crap. He knows her insecurities and should know which line he shouldn't cross. That's the problem with people you care the most about, they can also rip your heart out and wound it like no one else. But on the other hand he was Natsu Dragneel, he forgets things easily and isn't the most tactful person.

Crying in a dark corner would feel great by now and she was getting sick of all the town people staring at her like she was an attraction. How exciting, a crying girl...everybody should come and watch.

_If you are able to pass the emotional roller coaster, you will float on cloud nine with your one true love! _

Troublesome colleges...Check. Emotional roller coaster...Check. One true love...quit joking. If she could see Miss Mystic now, she would kick her hard.

**To Be Continued**

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**Yeah...I know. Where was the Nalu fluff? :O Don't worry I have plenty of that in the future ;) What do you think about Natsu's POV...did you like it? or do you like Lucy's POV more? I'm curious. How about Miss Mystic will tell you future for one review? :P**


	4. Wednesday

**JUST EDITED NOT UPDATED! SORRY GUYS :( Wait for the 11 January please ;) Thanks to QueenP9 I hope I got every 'signed' LOL  
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**Do you know how it feels to be without internet for two weeks? It's hell. I had to use my grandma's antique laptop...again. It weights ten tons and loads as needs hours to load a page. Yay...Anyway. Thanks to** wolfhead, Captain Ea Rayos, Ms. Singer, QueenP19, NatsuXLucy4ever2000, FireDragonPrincess, PARADISE.x, Puma, OhtaSuzuke, MissFairyTail101, ChuChu43, leoslady4ever, Eternal Anime Fan, Golden Rose Tanya, Blue-Phoenix311, Amychama248 and LuckyLifeSmile **for reviewing. Your well deserved horoscope is at the end of the chapter :D**

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**Wednesday**

Thick white clouds of steam rose from the bubbling hot springs and the smell of healing herbs hung in the air. Small drops of water dripped from her golden hair into the bath, causing small ripples to disturb the glassy surface.

She sighed and tried to relax her stiffened shoulders. Crying always made Lucy feel drained and the lump in her throat only disappeared when she solved her issues. Sleep was also a thing she was missing recently. Not only were her thoughts stuck in a roundabout about their fight, but her two male friends snored like beasts. So her red haired friend suggested that they should test the hot springs and have a talk.

"Look at my new bikini." Erza beamed and used her magic to change into her skimpy, crimson two piece. Internally, Lucy felt like laughing out loud. The red head always wanted to be girly, but she was only regarded as warrior woman. What a waste, she could easily be a model for bikinis.

_Avoid the color red._

At least her friend got to wear her favorite color. Miss Mystics horoscope started to give her the creeps. Most of the stuff that woman predicted in that horrible article was right, so Lucy decided to try to follow some of her advices.

"It looks gorgeous," she smiled encouragingly and clapped her hands together. Somehow, the enthusiasm was missing, nor did the smile reach her eyes. "You should show me the shop were you bought it."

Erza signed and raised an eyebrow. "You're still angry with him, aren't you?"

"Of course," she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. Since their fight yesterday, Lucy hadn't talked to him. Not even a word, even though he tried to persuade her to forgive him. He bought her favorite food for dinner. He let her have his bed with...some force from the warrior woman.

Heck, he didn't even make a sound when she started to write her novel, but she just didn't feel like forgiving him yet. Actually, she just couldn't understand where his anger came from at all.

"He's a jerk and you know it. Did you hear what he was saying? I know I'm not strong, Erza, but I still don't like people yelling it into my face. Besides...he never went to the extend and insulted one of his friends, he should know that this hurt me. I know he isn't someone who knows a lot about feelings, but doesn't he care for other people's feelings at all?"

"I think that Natsu understands feelings far too well," Erza said calmly and her eyes grew soft. She patted her friend's shoulder and leaned back against a rock,closing her eyes. "You know how his foster father left him when he was a kid, right? He loved him very much."

"I know that, but what does it have to do with our fight?" Lucy inquired and rolled her eyes.

"He didn't knew how to deal with the pain from that memory nor did anybody teach him how to be more perceptive with others," the red haired magician explained slowly and the blonde started to see a new side to him which explained some of his character traits. "If he fears that something that he loves will be taken away from him, he doesn't know how to deal with it and gets frustrated. His childish side comes through, do you see what I mean?"

"I guess so..." Lucy answered deep in thought. "When I was little and somebody wanted to take my lollipop, I always started to yell and cry until I got it back. If it was another kid, I always stole it back or just hid it so nobody would find it. Is it the same?"

"Yes and in our case you are the lollipop." Erza giggled behind her hand and the blonde groaned at the comparison – she always wanted to be a sugar thread. "That's the only way I can explain it. He thought that the lollipop he loves gets stolen by the evil Gray and feared that he wouldn't get you back. Natsu still is a child in some ways."

"H-he l-loves?" She blushed a deep crimson and sunk deeper into the bath to hide it, making small bubbles with her mouth. Love in the way best friends love each other. That must be it, so there was no need for her to panic.

Her friend watched her in amusement, but looked doubtful after a while. "You're one of the smartest people in Fairy Tail and you can't even figure that one out?"

"I already told Mira, there is nothing to find out...we're just good friends – nothing more," Lucy stuttered and was suddenly very interested in how her hair looked in the water. On a different train of thought, she looked gratefully at her friend. "Thank you, Erza! I feel ten million times better now and I think that I get why he's angry..."

"Really?"

She clapped her hands together and nodded to herself confidently. "He's angry because when I go with Gray, all the money will be with us and he can't buy food, meaning we would have stolen his beloved food."

Erza looked perplexed and her jar fell to the ground. "Seriously, I don't think..."

"Gosh, I should have known. He loves food over everything, but it's dramatic to go berserk like that. Ahhh, I'm so relieved."

"Lucy, that's not what I..."

But her protests were ignored when the now relaxed celestial wizard made her way out of the hot spring and dried herself with a soft, white, cotton towel. She waved at her friend in the bath and mumbled something about going to the library.

Erza knew that Natsu was incredibly dense and probably didn't even realize that he liked Lucy more than best friends should, but at least he was his usual self and just acted on instinct. On the other hand, she just couldn't believe the scene that had just happened a few moments ago. Has the celestial wizard fried her brain or got kidnapped by aliens? Most of the time Lucy was one of the first people to notice when love was in the air...

**XOXOXOX**

The city was bustling with people who prepared for the festival. More light lacrimas than at the first day were hovering in the air and illuminating the streets beautifully. He could smell various delicious kinds of food like roasted chicken, cotton candy, ice cream, sandwiches, orientally spiced vegetables and many more. But all of it didn't matter because he was in a bad mood. Natsu groaned sulkily when he wandered down a path and watched the busy people.

It was one of the worst days in his life and he could summarize the reasons in three sentences. They haven't found a hint about the guilt called Chaos Hunter. Happy was nowhere to be seen. Lucy was still angry with him. Great, just great.

Just when he walked around the corner, he spotted a familiar golden head. Speak of the devil. At first, he wanted to talk to her, but decided against it. She seemed deep in thought and he knew that she didn't want to see him. Instead, he decided to follow her like a ninja. Just to protect her from harm of course.

Natsu tumbled over a few boxes, ran into a few people who dropped their newly bought food and accidentally destroyed a booth full of cotton candy in which he dove because she turned around. Many angry people yelled after him to pay for the stuff, but he was too occupied with his secret mission to notice.

Lucy stopped to talk with some people, but he was too far away to hear their conversation. The elder woman pointed to a building and the blonde nodded thankfully. In order to follow her unnoticed, he hid behind several people who gave him weird looks. She halted in front of a shop that was crammed to the brim with books. Books...why does Lucy like them? They're boring as hell.

Natsu was so busy thinking about the question that he didn't notice the guy at the library counter who was flirting with his best friend. He looked definitely ugly and was ogling at the neckline of Lucy's lavender colored silk kimono. That bastard...and she didn't even notice. Heck, why does she always have to wear so revealing stuff? It was like a danger magnet that drew stupid men to throw themselves at her like annoying flies. Natsu imagined several ways of breaking the guy's bones, one more painful than the other. In order to release his anger and keep himself in control, he burned a barrel of apples.

"Oi, you're gonna pay for that," the booth vendor exclaimed frightened and pointed at his burned goods, but was ignored. Natsu was leaning over another barrel – almost falling over – in order to get a better look.

He couldn't believe his eyes, that bastard had the nerve to touch her arm against her will. Lucy even blushed, but he presumed it was out of anger.

Okay.

To hell with self control. He couldn't let this happen. He kicked the barrel away, stomped over to the shop and kicked the door out of it's angles. Lucy and the shop assistant looked shocked at the intruder who was covered in pink cotton candy, but Natsu didn't care. Instead he walked right to the boy and ripped his hand from Lucy's arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" He yelled and the guy held up his hands in a defensive pose, his glasses were almost falling from his nose. "Don't touch her or I'll burn you to a crisp!"

Silence.

He turned around to grab her and bring her to a safe place far away from the guy, but he didn't see the grateful expression he hoped for. Lucy was seething with anger and a dark aura surrounded her that even made him flinch.

"Natsu...what the hell is wrong with you?" she shrieked and her normally gentle eyes pierced into his scull.

"What is your problem now? I saved you from a guy who wanted to seduce you! Weren't you the one who complained about men who stalk you?"

"He was just showing me the way to the books I'm searching for," Lucy replied enraged. "And Verde wasn't molesting me or something! He's a nice guy, you should go!"

"I don't care what his name is! Let's just get out of here!"

"No! I need those books for our mission and I don't have the nerve to deal with you now! Just leave me alone!"

"Fine..." Natsu frowned and turned to leave but not before shooting Veru or whatever his name was a nasty glare. It was all his fault that Lucy was even angrier with him now. Great, his day just got worse...and it was about to get better. Outside waited an angry mob of shop vendors who formed an alliance against booth violating dragon slayers.

"There he is, that's the man who burned my apples!" The gray haired vendor from before yelled and pointed with his broom at him.

"Why is he covered in pink?" A brown haired woman asked curiously and pointed at the cotton candy that hung from his clothes.

"That's because he fell into my cotton candy machine and destroyed it," another vendor explained sadly and pointed to his booth to prove it.

"Get him!"

Holy crap. He could either beat them up which would be a great stress relief or run. Natsu decided to make a run for it because he didn't want to get into trouble with the women on his team. While running Natsu came to the conclusion that he had to clear things up with Lucy and apologize. Even if he didn't feel responsible at all, he wanted to end their fight once and for all.

**XOXOX**

Finally, after six hours he was able to get rid of the violent vendor mob with only a few scratches. Who knew that brooms could hurt if used in the right way.

With a creaking sound, he opened the wooden door to their collective room and carefully peaked into it. The first thing he saw were scattered books, maps and pages that were adored with Lucy's elegant scribbles. His eyes searched for the blonde magician and he smiled when found her in a weird sleeping position

Lucy lay on the ground between all those books, a writing feather in her right hand and her slender body curled up into a ball. Her face held a blissful expression that wouldn't be there if she knew that she accidentally splattered her blue ink all over a book in her sleep. Small amounts of it were still on her fingers. Not many people knew it, but if she was motivated, Lucy was a really hard worker. Natsu knew that she had the tendency to over-work herself sometimes, so he wasn't fond of all those books she reads.

Slowly, he approached her sleeping form and lifted her up in his arms without waking her. Natsu's breath hitched when her head fell against his neck and he almost felt her soft lips on his skin, but he composed himself and carried her over to their bed.

Yes, their bed.

Since it was originally his bed and he just gave it to her temporarily to make up, he still considered it his bed...making it theirs? When he put her down on the white cotton, she buried her face into the cushion and mumbled something. Slowly, his hand drifted towards her face on it's own accord. He just liked the feeling of Lucy's soft skin. She signed in her sleep when his finger brushed the small sorrow wrinkle between her eyebrows away. Lucy was almost cute when she was asleep.

"Yooooo guys," Gray yelled drunkenly as he burst through the door with Erza and Happy in tow. Startled, Natsu withdrew his hand and looked at the group, hoping that they didn't see. "Where have ya been? There was such a cool bar with a lot of free booze and hot girls. You should have seen that, man!"

"Oi, don't come barging in here like that," Natsu yelled loudly and threw a book at his rival. "Some people are sleeping."

"Then don't yell, you moron!" Gray grabbed the book and chucked it right at Natsu's head who then grabbed a cushion. So another pillow fight – the better word would be war – started. Even the poor cat was hit by a pillow which knocked him unconscious.

"Cut it out you two or you'll wake Lucy!" Erza yelled above all the noise and pointed a dozen swords at the two who were sweating bullets now.

"It's too late fore that," Lucy answered groggily and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She yawned widely before she pointed an accusing finger at the ice alchemist. "You should consider Juvia's feelings and don't hang out with hot girls or...I'll...Crap, I forgot what I was saying. See? That's what happens when you don't let me sleep."

"Juvia is here?" Gray's eyes budged out of their sockets and he was unconsciously stripping again. "Since when?"

Outside, rain started to pour in waterfalls again and the whole group gulped anxiously.

"Anyhow...Happy what did you find out by asking the citizens?" Erza demanded from the dizzy cat.

"Many people ran away from me when I asked them about Chaos Hunter, but I met some people from wealthier families who said that their children have been kidnapped. But I heard that the people in the dark guild are using strange magic," Happy told them after he regained his senses.

"Hmmm that's weird...why only the rich people?" Lucy murmured to herself while Erza slapped Gray for not listening to them. He used his magic to make an ice block to cool his new wound and hid in another corner of the room.

"Lucy, what did you find in the library? I must be something since our room looks like half of the library is inside...by the way you'll return all of this and clean it up," the red haired woman added with a sour tone in her voice. She was getting annoyed by all the mess they caused.

"Yes ma'am." Lucy saluted obediently and then started to tell them what she found out in her research.

_Do your thing! Your unusual ideas can be the cornerstone for you success._

Lucy hated to admit it, but following her instinct was the right decision. The key to solve the riddle of their location was the architecture of the city itself because even if one can't see it, the cultural heritage of Hosenka Town was tremendous. Sadly, the Duke of Pandera decided to create a modernized city for tourism and many believe that the old buildings disappeared completely. But they didn't. Because of the high water level, they had to build the new city on top of the old buildings after flattening those and use magic to keep the stones together.

"Underground tunnels?" Natsu didn't really listen to her whole explanation, but this was what registered in his mind.

Lucy sighed and studied some of the maps she had drawn from the information. "More like an underground labyrinth. It could take ages to find the right path and even longer to find something specific in there."

"It's not like we can't handle some stupid tunnels," he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Very well, then I believe we should search for the entrance to the old city tomorrow," Erza said seriously before she yawned and changed into a pajama with her magic. "I think Gray, Juvia, Happy and I should stay in the city. We need more people to protect the citizens and Natsu's fire is useful in dark underground tunnels." Secretly, she winked at Lucy who groaned because now Natsu and her were even worse off than before. Thanks, Erza.

"So we'll be going with Juvia? Where is she?" Gray questioned and the two girls smiled knowingly.

The weather suddenly calmed down and Lucy had to giggle. Juvia was so predictable.

**XOXOX**

She was far to exhausted to register that there was another person in her bed. Only when what she thought was a warm but hard pillow started to speak, her eyes went wide with realization. Right...they didn't move from their position when they had discussed about their mission earlier.

"Luce, are you awake?" Natsu mumbled, just a few inches from her face and his onyx eyes squinted to see her in the dark.

"Yeah," she whispered back. All anger from the day and the previous was washed away by the serenity of the night. The moonlight bathed the room in a silver light and they could only hear some crickets chirp. It was really hard not to feel peaceful.

_Venus it the cause of your flirty mood, but don't carry it too far. For you could break a heart._

The shop assistant was called Verde not Venus, but it scared her. Was it just another coincidence? She was indeed flirting with him, but it didn't hurt anybody, right? If Natsu was in love with her, it might have been true, but he wasn't...

"I'm sorry." His honest looked deep into hers and she couldn't look away even if she wanted too. Damn those puppy dog eyes...he mastered them perfectly. Natsu never apologized to her before thought, so that was a plus. "I didn't mean what I said, it was dumb...but when I'm angry...I don't think about what I say...and things come out the wrong way."

"It's okay as long as you can see it. I'm sorry, I over-reacted too. I should have considered your feelings as well, you just wanted to help me after all," she mumbled into his chest when she gave into her urge to hug him. He looked adorable when he was sad, so what could she do? Even the lump in her throat disappeared.

"Yeah, you should have."

Lucy could practically hear the smile in his voice so she punched his arm lightly in response. "But it's okay as long as we don't have another fight..."

She nodded and buried her face deeper in his chest without thinking if it was the right thing to do for best buddies or not. His warm hands drew patterns and circles across her back Somehow, it always felt safe in his arms...so protected and loved. Scratch the last one, her mind got out of control there.

It pained Lucy to admit it, but her feelings for the dragon slayer will probably never be returned and she gave up a long time ago. Instead of causing him confusion and more fights between them, she asked the question that itched to be asked. Hopefully, her voice won't break.

"So...still best friends?"

"...Sure."

Lucy felt her mood drop with only one word and wondered why. Everything was good now. They were friends again. Their fight was over...why does she still feel depressed?

But she put the thought aside and concentrated on going back to sleep, barely registering that Natsu's arms tightened around her.

After a while, her breathing went even and he signed audibly. Of course, they're just friends...it was always like that and it will always be like that. But how could he continue to be her best friend, if he had these thoughts about her. Even now, they way he could feel her curves when she breathed, could see her glowing face from close up and feel her soft skin against the exposed parts of his. It was so great and it felt so right.

But the longer his thoughts lingered on her body, the more he wanted her to be his. Only his. He just couldn't...

His train of thought was lost when she moved those lush lips of hers, mumbling something in her sleep. Natsu fought hard with the urge to steal a kiss. A small kiss was allowed. Just one tiny peck. Carefully, he closed the distance between their faces and stopped a few inches in front of her face, closing his eyes.

"Maaaan, you've got it bad!" Gray grinned wickedly at him from the sofa he was ordered to sleep on. He had watched the whole scene in amusement and thought it would be fun to anger the dragon slayer by interrupting him. Mission accomplished.

"Screw you, Gray!" Natsu was furious and glared at the ice alchemist from his position. Couldn't he have waited for a moment before ruining the mood? Annoying bastard. The fire dragon slayer would have started a fight, but he was comfortable in his position and didn't want to wake Lucy. "I'll kill you tomorrow."

"Try that if you can, Romeo." He winked before passing out on the sofa and starting his own song of the night – snoring.

Natsu rolled his eyes but had a small smile on his lips. If that was Gray's reaction, he obviously wasn't interested in Lucy and that was a huge relieve. Signing, he drifted into his own sleep, but not before mumbling...

"Good night, weirdo."

**To Be Continued**

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**D'awwww see? I promised some fluff here and there ;) Ah and don't kill Gray, please. As always read and review as if your life depends on it :D It makes me happy and motivates me to type the next chapter faster. I sense some drama coming up, but you'll see ;)**

_Job: Don't get ahead of yourself. Be super nice to annoying colleges. Romance: You're being admired by a secret lover. It's the time to fall in love and share warmth in the cold season. Style: Trust your flashy bracelets. Lucky Day: Friday_


	5. Thursday

**Ahhhh I know I'm the lowest of the low for not keeping my promise. Lower than grass. Okay, back to happier topics. I got to update :D Thanks to **Captain Ea Rayos, Ohta Suzuke, ZeldaWithAShotgun, the . curry. of . life .16, sereneskydragonslayer, 1fairytaillover, Tai Ru Kaerisato, KinKitsune01, ichiinoses, KawaiiOdango, NatsuXLucy4ever2000, shortypink, GoldenRoseTanya, QueenP19, Puma, Eilyn, Paradise.x **and**leoslady4ever **for your cool and helpful reviews :D I kinda love ya'll without trying to sound creepy. Enjoy reading :D**

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**Thursday**

She felt as if somebody was watching her. You know, the feeling that you are not alone...It was still not that uncomfortable because her mind was still too foggy due to the vast amount of sleep she got. With vast, Lucy meant almost none. When would the snoring ever stop?

On the other hand, her bed was really warm and comfortable, so she snuggled deeper into a soft pillow. A breathing pillow. Since when do pillows have muscles? With that question on her mind, she slowly opened her eyes and blinked at the sight of a familiar and very well-built chest.

Natsu's strong arms were wrapped tightly around her and pressed her body so close to his that she could feel his chest rise with every breath. He mumbled something in his sleep, smiling at whatever it was and she thought it looked adorable. Maybe Lucy was right and he did feel lonely from time to time. On the one hand it was depressing to see him sad, on the other hand...it made him look so cute that she would want to cuddle the daylights out of him.

Suddenly, one of his legs wriggled itself between hers and all in all it was a very, very compromising position. His warm, muscled skin rubbed against her leg and a shiver ran down her spine, but not in a bad way. That was not adorable nor was it innocent...but it made her stomach somersault and a warm sensation curse through her whole body. Damn, hormones.

"Stupid, fire breather," she hissed. "Intruding my bed again..."

Lucy tried to escape the cage of his arms, but every time she got a part of her body free, he held her even tighter. Annoying. Like a dragon protecting his golden treasure. She giggled at the thought; it definitely would suit him. Still, she wanted to get out.

She was antagonized for a few seconds until she decided that it was rather comfortable and closed her eyes again. He was in his dream world so he didn't know what he was doing, so she shouldn't be mad.

Nice and warm. She was almost back in her own dreamland.

Then she heard him sigh in his sleep and his hand traveled down to grope her butt. Her eyes snapped open. What the hell? That perverted dragon slayer! Enough was enough. Unceremoniously, she wriggled out of his embrace and harshly slapped is hand away. Natsu who just registered that he wasn't dreaming anymore, opened his eyes in confusion.

He gulped in fright when he saw an expression on her face that spelled:'you're not gonna wriggle yourself out of that one easily, mister'.

"Intruder!" she barked as if lighting struck her and because she didn't knew another way out of the awkward situation. He probably didn't even know what he did wrong. That wasn't an excuse this time. Anger should suffice. "Out of my room!"

With that being yelled, she kicked the unsuspecting wizard out of her bed. Natsu crashed into a small table which immediately broke in two pieces, one of them hitting a lamp which fell on Gray who woke with a start.

"Holy shit what's happening?" the ice-make wizard yelled panicked and threw the lamp away like it was a time bomb about to explode. He was oblivious to the fight that was about to ensue between his team mates and shot a glance at Erza who was still sleeping to his great relief. She'd kill anyone who dared to wake her.

Natsu rubbed his eyes and yawned, "G'morning to you too, Luce."

"Don't go all 'good morning' on me!" She balled her hands to fists and stomped over the messy bed. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"

"We are in a hotel remember? This is our room, too. So could you please keep it down," Gray answered instead and rubbed his temples in order to soothe his growing headache. "My head feels like exploding!"

"What the stripper said. It's our room," Natsu added.

"No shit Sherlock. That's still no reason to sneak into my bed," Lucy fumed and glared at both of them. At Gray for butting in and at Natsu for obvious reasons. "How would you like if I'd sneak into you bedroom, drool on your shirt and snore in you ear, huh? Totally awesome, could you at least… "

"You should cut down the drinking, bastard." Natsu rolled his eyes, ignoring Lucy's angry rant and glared at his rival.

"Are you my mom?" Gray stood up from his sofa and threw a squishy pillow at him. "And who are ya callin' a bastard, fire freak."

"Wanna start a fight, ice cream?" Natsu chucked it back; right into his face.

His rival smirked evilly and got himself two more pillows. "You're gonna lose, punk!"

" … and don't ignore me when I'm talking to you and don't start a fight in the morning!" Lucy finally exploded, successfully waking Happy. "It could kill you two just about now."

"Lucy? Can I have your pillows?" Eagerly, Natsu turned around to face her, but she was still very busy with her angry fit and didn't even listen. He pouted, can't she pay attention to him once? She listened to Gray again, but not him. "Luuuuce? I need more pillows to kick that bastard's ass. Luce? Oi, Luce?"

"I'm not deaf! No Natsu, you can't have my pillows because they are mine just like the bed." She crossed her arms like a stubborn kid. "Moreover, I won't support your fight!"

Erza put her own pillow over her ears.

"Jeez, Lucy, you're so mean. No need to get worked up..." Natsu tried to calm her because she started to seriously scare him. He rubbed his ear because her voice already reached higher octaves. All he remembered was that he had a really nice dream, Luce was in his arms and suddenly he was kicked all over the place.

"No need to get worked up? You were the one who sexually harassed me in my sleep!" Lucy shrieked and pointed an accusing finger at the stunned boy.

Erza turned to the other side.

"I didn't do that, I would remember something like that," he replied sheepishly and tried to hide his blush. He wouldn't tell her that he had been half awake for quite some time. At first he really thought he was dreaming though, before he remembered that they did actually share a bed. Moreover, she was awake at the beginning too, so she shouldn't be shouting.

"Keep it down you two," Gray yelled, really getting pissed now. They should try waking up with a murder hangover and listen to their bickering. It's painful. "You'll wake _her_."

Erza's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Lucy made a pacifying gesture towards him before she turned back to her argument with Natsu. "It's all your fault! Pervert!"

"I'm not a pervert."

"Are too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Lover's quarrel," Happy giggled behind his paws which earned him two embarrassed and one smug face. "Natsu and Lucy are sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

"We're not!" they yelled in unison.

"Shut up already our you are all going to die in this hotel room!" Erza stood up from her make shift bed on the floor and the room went quiet all of a sudden. A dozen swords were pointed at the four and they gulped in sync. Natsu and Gray were sweating bullets, while Happy hid behind Lucy and offered her for his sake...again. "Now, get dressed and shower. It will throw a bad light on Fairy Tail, if you show up like this. If you have so much energy left to establish a war zone in our hotel room, you aren't working hard enough. Today we'll concentrate on the mission. Only. And Natsu..."

"Y-Yes, ma'am?" he squeaked and tried to hide behind one of the table pieces, dreading his possible punishment.

"If you ever and I really mean ever touch Lucy against her will, I will punish you so hard you won't ever be able to use your hands again," she growled and stared daggers at him. For a moment tough, he thought he saw the hint of a smirk, but it was gone so fast he wasn't sure if he really saw it.

**XOXOX**

For most of the morning, Lucy was trying not to think about her perverted best friend. However, every time their eyes met, questions sprouted in her mind like a disease. Why did she feel so comfortable in his arms? Lately, they have been hugging often and they even had one argument that was borderline serious which rarely happened. Just what was wrong with their relationship? It just couldn't possibly be that he liked her in a romantic way because he was way to immature for that. Or could it be? She'd have to find it out.

They were on their way to the library again, in order to find an entrance to the underground labyrinth. Lucy avoided talking to the whining dragon slayer and focused all of her attention on the people around them. She shouldn't be thinking about Natsu and his issues, but rather about finding her one true love like Miss Mystic suggested.

_If you are able to pass the emotional roller coaster, you will float on cloud nine with your one true love! One true love..._

That sounded too good to be true. Not that the poser magician was right, but it was worth a try since there have been a few coincidences. Besides, she had to be consequent with her silent treatment or Natsu would never learn. Still, the tense silence which hung in the air between them, grew as the minutes ticked by.

"Luce? Are you still angry?"

He touched her arm softly and she turned her gaze on him for the first time since hours. Natsu's voice sounded annoyed, but his sad puppy eyes betrayed him. Images of his face close to hers and his body overwhelmed her mind and a hue pink traveled on her face.

All in all it was a very good feeling, until the memory of him groping her behind returned. Internally, she relived her rage.

"Luce? I don't want to fight with you again, we had that yesterday already. Please?"

She will stay strong. No, she had to stay strong and resist the urge to cuddle him to death...Oh, curse him and his puppy dog eyes, it was sweeter than a pile of candy and made her melt inside.

"Please?"

Oh, to hell with it.

"It's okay, just stop making that adorable face! It's so cute," she squealed and threw her arms around his neck, rubbing her cheek against his in a rush of affection. When she regained her senses, she leaped back with a shy grin and scratched the back of her head.

"I'm not cute, dragons can't be cute. They're dangerous and intimidating," he replied and furrowed his eyebrows, a usual sign that he was being serious. Lucy groaned and rolled her eyes. Of course, he'd see himself as a dragon and not human. She felt idiotic for even having the idea that he'd be intelligent enough to grasp a concept like love. Jet even be in love with her.

"Sure, that's what I wanted to say," she laughed and punched his arm. "You're very intimidating and dangerous just like a dragon."

"I know I am," he grinned proudly, not registering the sarcasm. Then a thought seemed to cross his mind – holy hell, yes a thought – it was scary to witness.

Out of nowhere, Natsu threw an arm over her shoulder and leaned closer to her face. His nose was now inches from her own and she felt herself getting lost in his charcoal eyes which glowed with a teasing light that made her shiver. His warm breath fanned across her face, making her breath hitch in her throat. Breathe, Lucy!

"But I'm more like a fire dragon," he said huskily. Oh gawd, that sounded just so unlike Natsu...almost...she dared to even think the word...sexy.

"S-so? W-what's the difference?" Lucy stuttered and tried to hide her flushed face from his gaze. With the arm around her shoulder, he pulled her even closer to him and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"I'm hot, duh." He laughed out loud like a maniac and Lucy joined in, ignoring the way his chest vibrated against her body when he laughed...and people who started at them.

Natsu wore his broad signature grin that could light up an entire room and made her forget about the new weird side to him; she had discovered since they started this mission. Maybe he has a multiple personality issue, but he'd have told her about that. That other side of her best friend made her nervous and sometimes it even frightened her. It felt like there was a ticking clock which limited the time they'd spent together. A world without her best friend would be scary.

**XOXOX**

"Jeez, this is so boring. Let's do something else," he grumbled as he watched the pretty blonde grab jet another book. Books are lame. How could she even read so fast? She was already skimming what felt like the one hundredth book and he needed an hour for five pages. They weren't even about food! Besides, the library smelled bad. He couldn't quite place it, but it was very unpleasant.

Well, their trip to this place had two good point. First off, they could spend undisturbed – without the ice bastard – quality time. Secondly, that book nerd guy from yesterday wasn't on duty and didn't bother Luce anymore. Not that he would be able to touch her with him around anyway.

"Erza will kill us if we don't work hard. You heard her this morning and I'm so close to finding it...just a few more books and I'm certain we'll find the entrance," she mumbled disinterestedly while adjusting her magic glasses. "You can go and look around if you're bored. I will find it faster without you nagging all the time anyway."

"You're mean," he grumbled and threw his book on a table.

There was nothing interesting in the store...except...his glance fell on the girl next to him. To kill some time, he put his head on his hands and started to watch the blond wizard curiously. Again, she was lost in the story of the novel in her hands and didn't even register his existence. The warm glow of a candle cast a mysterious but beautiful light on her face and made her smooth hair shimmer golden. His stomach twisted and warmed up when he thought about touching it.

Her brows were furrowed in concentration, her mouth formed a pout, every now and then she wrinkled her nose, if something important was written on the page. He never noticed before, but she looked really cute when she was puzzled over something. His cheeks warmed up, but he didn't look away to hide it.

Lately, she looked like that more often. Natsu knew something was bothering her since this week started, but from her behavior he could tell that she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Still, it worried him when she kept quiet about something.

"C-could you stop t-that?" Her embarrassed voice shook him out of his thoughts and he blinked dumbfounded.

"What?"

"Quit staring, it's distracting me." Uncomfortably, she shuffled in her seat hid her face behind a book.

"How so? I'm just observing," he chuckled and she threw him a glare over the pages. Natsu leaned closer to her and took the book out of her hands to get a better look at her flustered face, meeting resistance in the progress. He was a lot stronger than Lucy, so all her efforts went to waste.

"Well...you...staring...I...," she fumbled with her words while pointing an accusing finger at him. Pride rose in his chest over that face that he was able to render her speechless just by looking at her. "Just do something else, okay?"

The fire magician rolled his eyes. Nevertheless, he stood up to occupy himself, but not before ruffling her hair affectionately, earning a shocked squeal from her. Natsu didn't really want to leave her sitting alone, but he knew from experience that if he continued to annoy her, she'd explode. That wasn't a pretty thing to witness.

After wandering about the packed book shelves for what seemed like an eternity, the unpleasant scent intensified gradually. It was familiar to his nose. The faint smell of blood. Natsu followed it, until he reached a small shelf which was loaded with dust. The smell was now almost unbearable and he pinched his nose in disgust. Something must have happened in this crazy shop and he doubted that somebody had a papercut.

**XOXOX**

"Luce? Come over here, I think I found something." Although he didn't really want her anywhere near this horrid smell, they had to investigate it.

The wooden floor creaked beneath her annoyed footsteps, assuming it was just another one of his attempts to get her attention, before she found him sniffing at a red book. Seriously, sometimes he wasn't much different from a dog. A golden retriever to be specific. Loyal, overly cheerful, clingy and intelligence wise challenged. What sane person walked around sniffing at books? A red book and his pink hair.

_Avoid the color red and don't match it up with pink._

Should she be worried? Was something bad about to happen? When he noticed her watching him, he waved her to come closer.

"Since we entered the library, there was this awkward smell, but I didn't pay any attention to it 'till now. It's coming from this shelf," he mumbled absent-mindedly. "It reeks of blood, probably about five hours old, but I couldn't detect one drop."

Lucy furrowed her brows and contemplated his words. "You know, in many crime stories there are always secret passages in libraries like for instance, if you pull a certain book out. Then the shelf moves away and reveals a hidden passage through which the murderer could escape or hide his victims..."

"So you're sayin' there is a super-secret path behind the wall..."

She nodded in approval.

"You're so smart." Natsu patted her shoulder while beaming his one-hundred-watt grin, leaving her dazed, before turning his attention to the old shelf. The he yelled:"Let's do this. Here I go!"

Lucy's jaw dropped to the ground when her brain processed what he was doing. The idiot he was, he didn't waste any time with trying to find the secret lock. – "Roar of the fire dragon!" – No, the fire dragon slayer did what he could do best; he burned the thing to a crisp while laughing maniacally. She balled her hands to fists and a vein popped on her forehead.

"Luce, look you were right. There is a path! We found it! Erza will be so proud of us and we didn't even need all those books you read," Natsu exclaimed giddily and showed her a thumbs up when he turned around for praise. Lucy stood there motionless. "Oi, you alright? Luce? What's wrong?"

"..."

"Eh...Lucy?"

"Natsu," she hissed and her eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Yo?"

"Are you out of your mind! Those books were probably centuries old, they have historical value. Can you even imagine how much they are worth? I don't even want to imagine the Jewels you carelessly burned. You burned about eighty of them in one go," she yelled and performed a well-aimed kick to his side. Perplexed, he lost balance and fell to the ground. "Do you even think about getting a reward at all? How I'm gonna survive without my rent money, huh? I will have to live on the streets if this continues. You can be so thick-headed! Sometimes I wonder if you even have a brain!"

Now Natsu was the speechless one and the remaining pieces of wood continued to burn in the background, spreading the fire to the remaining furniture. Seeing the dangerous situation they were in, Lucy post-phoned the scolding for later and wondered how to keep the fire under control...since Natsu couldn't eat his own flames. Well, she had one option. A frightening one. Because no water was nearby, she had to do the most dangerous thing ever. Spit on the golden key.

"Open gate of the water bearer, Aquarius!"

Brilliant light and then … the most fearful spirit she owned appeared. Her blue scaled tail snapped from side to side like a whip and she could already feel the death glare bore into her head. "Tell me you didn't summon me from your own spit, wretch."

"I-I d-d-didn't?" Lucy stuttered nervously, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.

"Don't lie to me, stupid girl, it was gross. I will kill you! I was on a date with Scorpio. What did I say about calling me when I'm on a date?" the water spirit spat angrily.

"Y-you'll d-drown m-me to d-death?"

"Correct, smarty pants! Die a painful death in your own shitty spit!" Aquarius howled and a tidal wave swept over the shop, drowning the rest of the books and two innocent wizards.

The world turned upside down in front of Lucy's eyes, several objects were colliding with her body and she felt the urge to puke. It was like being an ant inside of a gigantic washing machine. After a while the steady flow of water weakened and she regained a safe place on the floor. Completely soaked from head to toe, it was no wonder her teeth started to shatter. If that keeps happening, she'd get sick sooner or later.

"Don't freaking call me for the next two months. I'm on vacation with my boyfriend!"

Lucy let out the breath she unknowingly held when her lunatic spirit vanished back to her own realm. Cautiously, her eyes scanned the obviously destroyed room to find the cause for all her troubles. She found him laying upside down not a few feet from her, spitting out a small fountain of water from his mouth.

"Hmmm Luce?" Natsu smirked, a teasing light in his charcoal eyes when he walked over to help her on her feet. "Someone told me that those books have historical value, not to mention they are worth a great deal of money. She also told me that her rent money was very important, but I can't remember who that was. Mysterious, isn't it?"

"I don't have a clue whom you're talking about, but she must have been a smart person," the celestial wizard growled, but a small guilty smiled tugged at her lips. "At least the fire is out...sorry about the mess."

"No biggie, we do that all the time. Let's get going and find those dark guild people!" Natsu laughed out loud and threw an arm over her shoulder.

She sighed comfortably when her shivering creased due to his warmth as they walked towards the hidden path's entrance. As soon as they stepped into the black tunnel, a shiver ran down her spine and spread through her whole body. This time it wasn't pleasant. Her skin felt as if thousand icy needles poked her. Lucy had the unnerving feeling in her gut that they should turn around and get the hell out of that place.

Natsu pulled her closer to him, when they spotted the origin of the heavy scent. Sprinkles of ruby-red blood covered the cold stones on either side of the tunnel. They gasped simultaneously, but stayed rooted on the spot. After all, it was their job to investigate it.

"Lucy?"

"Hmm?"

"We skipped lunch, I'm kinda hungry. Did you bring food?" Natsu asked casually and whined when his stomach grumbled loudly. Seriously, he was the only person she knew who was concerned about his meal in a situation like that. This time though, she was glad for the distraction

**To Be Continued**

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**Next chapter it is time for action, drama (I wrongly announced last time) and Chaos Hunter to appear muhahaha! No horoscopes for today, sorry guys. Have the nicest Thursday tomorrow :D While you're about to exit, leave a review...or Aquarius will come to your place...not pretty :'D**


	6. Friday

**Hey :D This time I have a solid reason for not updating. I'm in the middle of my finals and very busy with trying to hammer knowledge into my head, but since I had part of this chapter ready, I decided to update it. Other than that, I'm really freaking out right now :D I mean it's only been five chapters and you reviewed sooo much that it makes me feel special-ish. Thanks soooo much to** Tanai Reguzari, Neko-chan2604, LinkLover123, Erza Scarlet, QueenP19, Guest, alana del mar, MADDIE, CupcakeGirl633, shortypink, 1fairytaillover, sereneskydragonslayer, Captain Ea Rayos and TheLostHope** for reviewing! Like I promised, there will be some action in this chapter.**

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**Friday **

"What the hell is this place?" Lucy stopped walking and looked at yet another dark stone wall. They have walked for what felt like an eternity, not to mention that the stupid tunnels had about thousand dead ends.

Her legs ached with fatigue, her shoulders slumped forward and she bet that weights pulled at her eyelids. It made her want to bang her head against the next wall. Maybe that's how the blood got there in the first place; someone must have been just as annoyed. If this continued, they would never find out of that labyrinth.

"I thought you would know since you read all those smart-ass books." Natsu's panting got heavier and he clutched his side. Lucy knew that using his fire magic to light their path this whole time must have exhausted him. She noticed that he tried to hide his fatigue to keep the mood light and prevent her from feeling anxious. Lucy was grateful, but also concerned.

Still, he didn't complain so she would neither.

"Yeah ... it was supposed to be an ancient city, but don't you think it's strange?"

"What is?"

"We haven't seen anything that resembles a door, a window or a house so far. If this really is an underground city, not matter how old, there should be ruins of buildings or at least some signs that people lived here. All we've seen are those stupid stone walls and – something I thought of as very comforting – a lot of blood."

She tried to soothe the goosebumps on her arms; her eyes never leaving their suspicious surroundings. The only sound that echoed in the darkness was the continuous dripping of water. It must be raining outside or maybe Juvia threw another fit about Gray. Wow, suddenly Lucy was glad to be far away from the rest of her team in some creepy underground tunnel.

More than once, her hand itched to grab a key and call a spirit for protection. Lucy wasn't certain where they were and what they were doing, but one thing was as clear as glass. If she would be a dark guild member in search for a hideout, this would definitely be her first choice. Furthermore, it would explain how they were able to enter the city so easily as well as disappear.

A warm feeling around her neck broke her train of thought and she looked at the culprit in surprise. Her hands felt the rough texture before her nose caught the comforting smell that resembled him so much. Lucy smiled.

Curiously, she peeked at Natsu from beneath her eyelashes.

"What? Don't look at me like that!" He spluttered embarrassed and avoided to look in her eyes. "It's not like I can feel the cold, you know. If you don't want it just say so, weirdo."

"What's with the tsundere* attitude all of a sudden?!" Lucy broke into a fit of giggles, but calmed herself when she sensed his annoyance. Her eyes widened when she saw the small blush on his cheeks. What's with him? Normally, he would have denied it or at least tried to argue with her, stating that being a writer made her loose her sense of reality or something. Could it be ... "Thanks, Natsu, I will protect your scarf until you take it back."

"Don't mention it," he replied while taking her hand in his and dragging her along. For a moment, she stared at their intertwined hands in amazement, but smiled when she felt his warmth transfer to her body. A cold breeze brought shivers to Lucy's warmed up skin, but she didn't even realize it, being too occupied by thoughts about her weird-behaving best friend.

_Not too flashy, your good mood has enough force of attraction._

She hadn't been in a good mood lately and had acted rather cranky, she admitted to herself. In that case her force of attraction must be zero. Strangely, Lucy wasn't happy about Miss Mystic being wrong, but felt strong disappointment.

Did that mean she wasn't attractive in the eyes of guys? Or a person others liked to hang around? It would explain why she never had a serious boyfriend.

However, that prediction seemed to fit Natsu as if the horoscope was made for him. He always sensed her emotions and tried to cheer her up or distract her from her fear. Moreover, he was passionate about everything and could make her comfortable in the most awkward situations with his light-hearted comments. If that wasn't attractive to the people around him, she wouldn't know what would. Geez, it even made her consider Natsu a good boyfriend … long time ago.

Still, he didn't show interest in her whatsoever and Lucy wasn't too sure she wanted to destroy their friendship by forcing an answer out of him. The way they were now was enough, right? Besides, it wasn't like she was certain of her feelings, so maybe she just confused 'real love' with 'love' for family or friends.

A quiet snicker shook her out of her world of thoughts. Startled, Lucy looked at the pink-haired guy next to her who crouched in front of something greenish.

"Natsu? What are you doing?" Keeping her guard up, she peeked over his shoulder and what she saw made her want to face palm. "Don't tell me you idiot ate them. They could be poisonous or even deadly and you just shove them in your mouth?! Didn't you learn from the other mission that eating random crap causes trouble for your body."

"Wuuuchy, you wand swome twoo?" Natsu tried to ask, his mouth full of green mushrooms which he picked up from the ground. "Weey aree reelly deelicuuus."

"No, I don't want some stupid mushrooms from a creepy cave," she yelled and hit him with her free hand, thereby eliminating the left-over 'food'. Why again was she thinking so seriously about him again? Perhaps Lucy was wrong and he didn't try to lift the mood rather than he was just plain dumb. "Spit it out!"

"Don't worry about me." He beamed and squeezed her hand lightly. "My tummy can take a lot, besides I would die from starvation before the poison would affect me."

"I'm not worried about you, idiot. I just don't want to be left alone in a place like this with a dark guild waiting to ambush me." She put a hand to her chin, pretending to be deep in thought, a dark aura surrounding her. A chuckle escaped her lips when she saw that her best friend broke out in a sweat. "Oh, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you dropped dead … there would be less damage on our missions and I could get more money. I changed my mind, you can eat all the crap you like! When we get home I'll even make you some mushroom stew. Sounds good?"

"You are so cold, Lucy, it's like your heart is made of ice," he complained, but still didn't let go of her hand. "That's not something you say to your partner. Besides, you already revealed your plan to me … as if I would fall for that trap now."

"You would still fall for that," she muttered before breaking out in laughter. Really, she couldn't be angry with him for long and at the very least, he didn't show any symptoms of food poisoning.

**XOXOX**

It's been a while since he felt content to that extend. Natsu was excited that they were close to discover those shady Chaos Hunter people because he hated waiting and not doing anything above everything else.

Moreover, he enjoyed his quality time with Lucy. These days it was rare that they were alone and he had the annoying feeling of burning people to ashes when they tried to gain her attention. The feeling got stronger when the person was a male. It felt like there was a raging monster hiding within him and Natsu didn't like it one bit.

The dragon slayer shot a glace at the girl beside him who was the very cause for his troubled thoughts. His eyes wandered from their linked hands all up to the half-exposed skin of her neck. Internally, Natsu tried to deny the overwhelming pleasure he got from seeing her with his scarf. It was more than happiness … something like pride? No, it just felt right. It looked like she belonged to him and him only. When did he start thinking that way?

Suddenly, Lucy stiffened next to him and she halted in her tracks.

"Oi, Luce? What's wrong?"

"We may be making a huge mistake here," she mumbled while her eyes fixated on something ahead of them. Natsu followed her gaze and when he realized what she meant by that, a growl escaped his lips. He narrowed his eyes at the person and squeezed Lucy's hand to reassure her.

"Well, well, well what do we have here. Don't tell me you two are lost," teased a deep, arrogant sounding voice. A few footsteps echoed in the hall and a person stepped into the light which Natsu's magic provided, fully revealing himself. "Shall I help you find a way out?"

The creep had eery dark green hair which shimmered from the orange light of the fire. His eyes were hidden behind a rimless set of glasses and he was dressed in a business-like suit with black tie and everything. Who the hell was he? The way that bastard smirked at him as if he was superior, his attitude and general appearance irked him. That wasn't the only thing that pissed him off; it was the familiar smell coming off that dude.

Lucy grasped. "Verde, is that you?"

"Fancy meeting you here, my lady." Verde tilted the edge of his top hat in a formal way of greeting while he cracked a lopsided smile. Natsu clicked his tongue in response. "What brings you to such an unusual place?"

"Er … I j-just wanted to look for the b-book you recommended to me, but I – we got lost," she stuttered nervously. Natsu could clearly see the guilt on her face, well, they destroyed most of the books after all. He didn't knew why she was embarrassed though. But he definitely knew that he didn't like the blush that was spreading on her face. Not at all.

"Actually, we've been looking for a dark guild named Chaos Hunter and discovered this labyrinth by accident. By the way, have you seen some suspicious people around? That would help our search a lot."

There is a suspicious person right in front of her, didn't she realize that? No, but she had to battle her eyelashes at him and use that sickly sweet voice. Natsu groaned and looked at his fidgety friend in disbelieve. Verde noticed his anger and smiled smugly.

"Suspicious people? Well, that depends on what you consider suspicious, Lucy." He winked at her and extended one of his white-gloved hands towards her. Lucy quirked an eyebrow at Natsu who almost crushed her hand in his, anger seeping from his body. "If you hadn't met me at the wrong time in the wrong place, we could have talked about books some more. I really like your taste, you know? It's a pity."

"What are you talking about? You don't mean you are – "

"Yes, you're right, little bookworm. I'm the leader of Chaos Hunter, Verde Vendetta, nice to meet you."

"Bastard! Stop talkin' high-and-mighty" the dragon slayer snapped, his patience at its limit. Who did that guy think he was, flirting with Lucy out of the blue. "Either you tell us the way out or the way to the dark guild. Your choice."

"Thank you very much, but I'd rather create a new option." Verde grinned evilly. He tilted his now glowing hand an inch to the left and pointed his index finger at the celestial wizard. "Subject Matter: Attract!"

In the blink of an eye, the blonde was gone from his side and in the arms of the green-haired magician. Lucy was too stunned to struggle and just stared at him, bewilderment reflecting in her eyes. Dammit, how did that happen while he was around? What kind of magic was that bastard using?

Didn't matter, Natsu would burn him and his stupid hat to ashes. Just when he was about to charge at Verde, realization hit him like lightning. He could hurt Lucy with an attack. He couldn't lift a finger against this guy as long as she was in that creeps hands.

"Seems like he finally understood his situation. He's not the brightest fellow, huh?" Verde taunted and closed the distance to Lucy's face, almost touching her oh-so-soft lips. Oh … like Natsu would let that happen. He had worked his ass of to have a chance with her someday and now some strange dude just sweeps her away from him? Yeah, not gonna happen.

"Oi, Luce, what are you doing? Kick that guy already, so that I can beat him to a pulp!" Natsu yelled confidently.

"I … can't … move … ," she managed to hiss between heavy breaths while trying to struggle against her captor's ion grip.

Verde watched her amused before he poked a nerve on her neck to make her fall unconscious. Lucy's body visibly relaxed and her head slumped over the green-haired man's shoulder. She looked so vulnerable that the urge to kill the librarian grew even stronger, if that was possible.

"You cowardly bastard, let go of her and fight me head on," Natsu growled, his fists already clad in dangerous fire. Another breeze which almost knocked the top hat from his opponent's head, carried a familiar scent to his nose, only that it was a lot stronger this time. It was the smell of expensive perfume, Hosenka's famous oriental spices and herbs mixed with … blood?!Natsu felt nauseous and secretly sniffed the air again to be sure. What in the world were they doing in this cave?

"If you do something to her, I'll kill you personally."

"And here we go again with the threats." Verde rolled his eyes and tried to suppress a yawn. Natsu, thinking that his opponent left an opening, leaped forward to free his friend. Sadly, the strange wizard was a lot faster than he looked and easily dodged his attack. "Hold your horses, was that supposed to be an attack? How simple … but since you're so intent on rescuing her, why don't we play a little game? If you can find her within twenty-four hours, I may consider letting her go. If not … you can watch your treasure die right in front of your eyes. _Sounds good_?"

"'Sounds good' my ass," Natsu snapped and readied himself for another attack. His opponent dodged easily which is why the wizards frustration level started to rise off limits. "I said: give her back now!"

"Pardon me, but I don't think you have a choice in the matter." The leader of Chaos Hunter chuckled and threw Lucy over his shoulder like a sandbag. He wasted a last glance towards the dragon slayer before he retreated a few steps, half of his body passing through a wall. Was he a ghost or what? Natsu ran towards the wall in an attempt to follow the creep, but the latter was faster.

The only thing that was left was the sound of the bastards stupid voice: "You should hurry though because I tend to get bored. When that happens I can't guarantee the safety of your treasure. Good luck!"

**XOXOX**

Lucy was aware of exactly three things when she woke up. Number one being her ringing skull and number two the knowledge that she had in fact been kidnapped by a handsome man. Those two were easily over-shadowed by the third thing which was the very dominant smell of blood covering her surroundings. Natsu must have smelled it from miles away, but he didn't say a word. Preparing for the worst, she hesitantly opened her eyes.

The room was plunged in darkness, but a fireplace still provided dim light. It was decorated sparsely with only three armchairs, a bookshelf and a table with some papers. Lucy could identify them as some sort of advertisement for the upcoming festival. Strangely, there was no indication from where the scent came.

Trying to come up with a plan to escape, Lucy checked whether her keys were still by her side and took in a breath when she noticed that her hands were tied behind her back with iron chains. With shaking fingertips she tried to grab one of her keys, hoping that one of her spirits would feel her distress and open the damn gate by themselves. Nothing of the sort happened. Figures. Coincidentally, every time she had been kidnapped or happened to be in grave danger, her spirits loved to vanish back into their world.

"Come on, anyone of you'll do! Just help me already," she rambled annoyed, regretting her poor choice of learning celestial magic. Magic with its own will can be a pain. "Please, guys, don't leave me hanging. If I die then we'll lose our contract and you might get a new owner who's way more annoying than I am. Why did I call myself annoying again? But seriously, can't you sense the danger? I don't care who, just someone save me!"

Lucy didn't expect that her pleas reached them, that's why she got startled when something on her hip started to glow. A small 'poof' sound could be heard and in front of her stood the only spirit she really didn't need right now. Plue gurgled happily when he spotted her and stumbled over his white feet when he tried to reach her. This was just fantastic.

"Well, it's worth a try …" She sighed in self-pity, trying to gauge the doggy spirit with a serious stare. Maybe he has got some abilities that she had yet to discover, some hidden potential. In her mind, the little Plue transformed into a gigantic dog-like monster with huge fangs which could shoot deadly beams from his mouth. A dreamy grin crept on her face. "Plue … I know that I've never taken you for the strong type, but I have the feeling you might turn out to be my trump card. So please free me, my hero!"

Plue nodded proudly and crossed his tiny arms over his chest, shiny sparkles surrounding his body. He took a few steps back and then rammed his body against her shackles. Then, the spirit fell back to the ground, tears appearing in the corner of his eyes. Lucy's hopes, if there ever were any, were crushed.

"It's okay, Plue, at least you tried … which makes you better than any of my other friends." Another 'poof' sound could be heard and he vanished into thin air.

What were her options? She was somewhere below ground in the hideout of a wanted dark guild. It was freaking cold, her hands hurt from the shackles and she had no clue where her friends might be. It was definitely not the first time she'd been kidnapped or captured, but not knowing anything about the enemy except that he loved books was indeed new.

"A penny for your thoughts." The sudden presence next to her startled Lucy and she turned towards the voice. Verde leaned against the wall next to her, twirling his hat in his hands as if they were friends having small talk. When she didn't answer immediately, he grew impatient and sat down next to her. Lucy took the time to study his face some more. He was definitely a handsome fellow, some might even consider him a model, and the mischievous glint in his eyes could easily make any girl swoon.

_Venus is the cause of your flirty mood, but don't carry it too far._

If she would take Miss Mysic seriously, then 'Venus' could refer to Verde because he made her want to flirt with him. Hell, she'd even consider going out with him, if it weren't for the situation. Is that what was meant by 'don't carry it too far'? It was simply impossible that the stupid horoscope was so accurate. A blush crept on her cheeks and her heart skipped a beat when he grasped her chin softly in one of his big hands to get a better read on her face.

"An answer would be very kind," he said with his melodic voice, tilting his head quizzically. "For a conversation you need two people, otherwise it would be a monologue."

Is that what they called Stockholm syndrome? But it's not like this experience was traumatic or anything. So where did the strange attraction stem from?

She shook her head in order to put her thoughts back into a straight order.

"I was thinking about the blood we saw on our way here and why everything in this rooms smells like it," Lucy replied honestly. "Where does it come from? It's not like you're piling corpses in the room next door, right?" She laughed hysterically, fearing that her answer might be too close to the truth.

The mysterious wizard joined her laughter and waved his hand at the door. Two shadowy figures appeared and dragged a large bag behind them. From the sound of it, they were absorbed in an argument and Lucy caught words like 'not again' , 'too easy' and 'stinky dead person'. She gulped and prepared herself for the cruel answer to her previous question. What she thought was a bag bore a striking resemblance to a person with long blond hair. Red liquid was dripping from her stomach and formed a small puddle in front of the fireplace.

"Ah, Nathan and Urania, you're back early," Verde greeted them cheerfully and strolled over. "My, oh my, what did you do to her? Man ... that wound looks nasty, you could have been a bit nicer to the lady. I told you to kill her, but that doesn't mean you have to go all out."

___Later this week, Uranus and Neptune will cause breakdown and misunderstandings._

"She scratched my beautiful face," the black-haired woman called Urania whined and put a hand over her face. "Commoners shouldn't even be allowed to be within my breathing distance. She just ticked me off."

"You're my sister and I love you, but try not to be a baby. You should have stayed at the Pandera mansion if you hate living like a commoner so much." Nathan sighed and rubbed his temples. "If you don't stop nagging, I'll get a headache."

No kidding, Lucy's headache was close to become a permanent disease. Not only did those names ring a bell in her head, they were way too similar to two planets of the solar system. She had to avert her eyes when they threw the body into the fire where it incinerated to ashes. A sickly sweet smelling smoke oozed into the room and Lucy had to cough violently. Handsome kidnapper or not, she had to get out of there, before she ended like the girl in the fire.

**To Be Continued**

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*****tsundere: is a japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing his or her warm side over time. (Many of you probably knew that, but I explained for the few who don't)

**Well, that's it for the first part of friday. Yes, you heard right, there will be a second part of friday. It's because otherwise the story won't fit until sunday. By the way, do you like my OCC Verde? :D I imagined him to be a bit like Tyki Mikk from D. Gray Man. Oh and his magic is similar to Tyki Mikk's powers. I'm falling in love with anime characters again LOL.**

**Review or Plue will turn into a monster and eat you :D**


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